Effects of Seasonal Ice Coverage on the Physical Oceanographic Conditions of the Kitikmeot Sea in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago ...
The Kitikmeot Sea is a semi-enclosed, east–west waterway in the southern Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). In the present work, the ice conditions, stratification, and circulation of the Kitikmeot Sea are diagnosed using numerical simulations with a 1/12° resolution. The physical oceanographic cond...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor and Francis
2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/prism/46039 https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/113796 |
| Summary: | The Kitikmeot Sea is a semi-enclosed, east–west waterway in the southern Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). In the present work, the ice conditions, stratification, and circulation of the Kitikmeot Sea are diagnosed using numerical simulations with a 1/12° resolution. The physical oceanographic conditions of the Kitikmeot Sea are different from channels in the northern CAA due to the existence of a substantial ice-free period each year. The consequences of such ice conditions are twofold. First, through fluctuations of external forcings, such as solar radiation and wind stress, acting directly or indirectly on the sea surface, the seasonal ice coverage leads to significant seasonal variations in both stratification and circulation. Our simulation results suggest that such variations include freshening and deepening of the surface layer, in which salinity can reach as low as 15 during the peak runoff season, and significantly stronger along-shore currents driven directly by the wind stress during the ice-free ... |
|---|