The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume
Arctic Ocean physical and biogeochemical properties are strongly influenced by freshwater input from land and through the Bering Strait, where the mean currents transport water northward from the Bering Sea. The Yukon River is one of the largest rivers in North America and the Arctic, contributing l...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217/full |
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crfrontiers:10.3389/fmars.2021.793217 2024-02-11T10:01:07+01:00 The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume Clark, J. Blake Mannino, Antonio National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217/full unknown Frontiers Media SA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Frontiers in Marine Science volume 8 ISSN 2296-7745 Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography journal-article 2022 crfrontiers https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217 2024-01-26T09:58:39Z Arctic Ocean physical and biogeochemical properties are strongly influenced by freshwater input from land and through the Bering Strait, where the mean currents transport water northward from the Bering Sea. The Yukon River is one of the largest rivers in North America and the Arctic, contributing large quantities of freshwater and terrigenous material to the coastal ocean in the northern Bering Sea. However, a detailed analysis of the coastal hydrodynamics at the outflow of the river has not been conducted in this remote but regionally important river. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model was built to represent the lower Yukon River and coastal ocean for the ice-free months in 7 years. On average, a large anticyclonic eddy persisted at the main outflow of the Yukon that recirculates water back toward the coast where the currents converge to form a mean northward transport along the delta. Interannual spatial variance in salinity was relatively small, while there was substantial variance in u and v current velocity. u velocity spatial variance was correlated to the volume of freshwater discharge across years, while v velocity spatial variance was correlated to the N–S wind velocity. During strong wind events, plume structure was substantially altered: southerly winds deepened the plume and enhanced northward transport, while northerly winds shoaled and strengthened the pycnocline, and reversed the flow toward the south. The variability in plume dispersion on short time scales due to wind forcing has implications for where terrigenous material is processed in and settles out of the water column. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Bering Sea Bering Strait Yukon river Yukon Frontiers (Publisher) Arctic Arctic Ocean Bering Sea Bering Strait Yukon Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
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Frontiers (Publisher) |
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crfrontiers |
language |
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topic |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography Clark, J. Blake Mannino, Antonio The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume |
topic_facet |
Ocean Engineering Water Science and Technology Aquatic Science Global and Planetary Change Oceanography |
description |
Arctic Ocean physical and biogeochemical properties are strongly influenced by freshwater input from land and through the Bering Strait, where the mean currents transport water northward from the Bering Sea. The Yukon River is one of the largest rivers in North America and the Arctic, contributing large quantities of freshwater and terrigenous material to the coastal ocean in the northern Bering Sea. However, a detailed analysis of the coastal hydrodynamics at the outflow of the river has not been conducted in this remote but regionally important river. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model was built to represent the lower Yukon River and coastal ocean for the ice-free months in 7 years. On average, a large anticyclonic eddy persisted at the main outflow of the Yukon that recirculates water back toward the coast where the currents converge to form a mean northward transport along the delta. Interannual spatial variance in salinity was relatively small, while there was substantial variance in u and v current velocity. u velocity spatial variance was correlated to the volume of freshwater discharge across years, while v velocity spatial variance was correlated to the N–S wind velocity. During strong wind events, plume structure was substantially altered: southerly winds deepened the plume and enhanced northward transport, while northerly winds shoaled and strengthened the pycnocline, and reversed the flow toward the south. The variability in plume dispersion on short time scales due to wind forcing has implications for where terrigenous material is processed in and settles out of the water column. |
author2 |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clark, J. Blake Mannino, Antonio |
author_facet |
Clark, J. Blake Mannino, Antonio |
author_sort |
Clark, J. Blake |
title |
The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume |
title_short |
The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume |
title_full |
The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume |
title_fullStr |
The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Impacts of Freshwater Input and Surface Wind Velocity on the Strength and Extent of a Large High Latitude River Plume |
title_sort |
impacts of freshwater input and surface wind velocity on the strength and extent of a large high latitude river plume |
publisher |
Frontiers Media SA |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217/full |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bering Sea Bering Strait Yukon |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bering Sea Bering Strait Yukon |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bering Sea Bering Strait Yukon river Yukon |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bering Sea Bering Strait Yukon river Yukon |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science volume 8 ISSN 2296-7745 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.793217 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
_version_ |
1790596862012555264 |