Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss
The Beaufort Gyre freshwater content has increased since the 1990s, potentially stabilizing in recent years. The mechanisms proposed to explain the stabilization involve either mesoscale eddy activity that opposes Ekman pumping or the reduction of Ekman pumping due to reduced sea ice–ocean surface s...
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2020
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:101240 2023-05-15T15:02:54+02:00 Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss Armitage, Thomas W. K. Manucharyan, Georgy E. Petty, Alek A. Kwok, Ron Thompson, Andrew F. 2020-02-06 application/pdf application/vnd.ms-excel https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/1/s41467-020-14449-z.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/2/41467_2020_14449_MOESM2_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/3/41467_2020_14449_MOESM1_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/4/41467_2020_14449_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200212-104403401 en eng Nature Publishing Group https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/1/s41467-020-14449-z.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/2/41467_2020_14449_MOESM2_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/3/41467_2020_14449_MOESM1_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/4/41467_2020_14449_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx Armitage, Thomas W. K. and Manucharyan, Georgy E. and Petty, Alek A. and Kwok, Ron and Thompson, Andrew F. (2020) Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss. Nature Communications, 11 . Art. No. 761. ISSN 2041-1723. PMCID PMC7005044. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14449-z. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200212-104403401 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200212-104403401> cc_by CC-BY Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14449-z 2021-11-18T18:53:37Z The Beaufort Gyre freshwater content has increased since the 1990s, potentially stabilizing in recent years. The mechanisms proposed to explain the stabilization involve either mesoscale eddy activity that opposes Ekman pumping or the reduction of Ekman pumping due to reduced sea ice–ocean surface stress. However, the relative importance of these mechanisms is unclear. Here, we present observational estimates of the Beaufort Gyre mechanical energy budget and show that energy dissipation and freshwater content stabilization by eddies increased in the late-2000s. The loss of sea ice and acceleration of ocean currents after 2007 resulted in enhanced mechanical energy input but without corresponding increases in potential energy storage. To balance the energy surplus, eddy dissipation and its role in gyre stabilization must have increased after 2007. Our results imply that declining Arctic sea ice will lead to an increasingly energetic Beaufort Gyre with eddies playing a greater role in its stabilization. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Sea ice Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Arctic Nature Communications 11 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftcaltechauth |
language |
English |
description |
The Beaufort Gyre freshwater content has increased since the 1990s, potentially stabilizing in recent years. The mechanisms proposed to explain the stabilization involve either mesoscale eddy activity that opposes Ekman pumping or the reduction of Ekman pumping due to reduced sea ice–ocean surface stress. However, the relative importance of these mechanisms is unclear. Here, we present observational estimates of the Beaufort Gyre mechanical energy budget and show that energy dissipation and freshwater content stabilization by eddies increased in the late-2000s. The loss of sea ice and acceleration of ocean currents after 2007 resulted in enhanced mechanical energy input but without corresponding increases in potential energy storage. To balance the energy surplus, eddy dissipation and its role in gyre stabilization must have increased after 2007. Our results imply that declining Arctic sea ice will lead to an increasingly energetic Beaufort Gyre with eddies playing a greater role in its stabilization. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Armitage, Thomas W. K. Manucharyan, Georgy E. Petty, Alek A. Kwok, Ron Thompson, Andrew F. |
spellingShingle |
Armitage, Thomas W. K. Manucharyan, Georgy E. Petty, Alek A. Kwok, Ron Thompson, Andrew F. Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss |
author_facet |
Armitage, Thomas W. K. Manucharyan, Georgy E. Petty, Alek A. Kwok, Ron Thompson, Andrew F. |
author_sort |
Armitage, Thomas W. K. |
title |
Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss |
title_short |
Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss |
title_full |
Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss |
title_fullStr |
Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss |
title_full_unstemmed |
Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss |
title_sort |
enhanced eddy activity in the beaufort gyre in response to sea ice loss |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/ https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/1/s41467-020-14449-z.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/2/41467_2020_14449_MOESM2_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/3/41467_2020_14449_MOESM1_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/4/41467_2020_14449_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200212-104403401 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/1/s41467-020-14449-z.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/2/41467_2020_14449_MOESM2_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/3/41467_2020_14449_MOESM1_ESM.pdf https://authors.library.caltech.edu/101240/4/41467_2020_14449_MOESM3_ESM.xlsx Armitage, Thomas W. K. and Manucharyan, Georgy E. and Petty, Alek A. and Kwok, Ron and Thompson, Andrew F. (2020) Enhanced eddy activity in the Beaufort Gyre in response to sea ice loss. Nature Communications, 11 . Art. No. 761. ISSN 2041-1723. PMCID PMC7005044. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14449-z. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200212-104403401 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20200212-104403401> |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14449-z |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766334820377427968 |