Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations
Atlantic Water (AW) is the largest reservoir of heat in the Arctic Ocean, isolated from the surface and sea ice by a strong halocline. In recent years, AW shoaling and warming are thought to have had an increased influence on sea ice in the Eurasian Basin. In this study, we analyze 59,000 profiles f...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6f47c16c-4efb-47f4-89c5-eb7ef2ce153d |
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ftuloxford:oai:ora.ox.ac.uk:uuid:6f47c16c-4efb-47f4-89c5-eb7ef2ce153d 2023-05-15T14:47:08+02:00 Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations Richards, AE Johnson, HL Lique, C 2022-08-25 https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6f47c16c-4efb-47f4-89c5-eb7ef2ce153d eng eng American Geophysical Union doi:10.1029/2021JC018358 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6f47c16c-4efb-47f4-89c5-eb7ef2ce153d https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC Attribution (CC BY) CC-BY Journal article 2022 ftuloxford https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 2022-09-29T22:06:07Z Atlantic Water (AW) is the largest reservoir of heat in the Arctic Ocean, isolated from the surface and sea ice by a strong halocline. In recent years, AW shoaling and warming are thought to have had an increased influence on sea ice in the Eurasian Basin. In this study, we analyze 59,000 profiles from across the Arctic from the 1970s to 2018 to obtain an observationally based pan-Arctic picture of the AW layer, and to quantify temporal and spatial changes. The potential temperature maximum of the AW (the AW core) is found to be an easily detectable, and generally effective metric for assessments of AW properties, although temporal trends in AW core properties do not always reflect those of the entire AW layer. The AW core cools and freshens along the AW advection pathway as the AW loses heat and salt through vertical mixing at its upper bound, as well as via likely interaction with cascading shelf flows. In contrast to the Eurasian Basin, where the AW warms (by approximately 0.7°C between 2002 and 2018) in a pulse-like fashion and has an increased influence on upper ocean heat content, AW in the Canadian Basin cools (by approximately 0.1°C between 2008 and 2018) and becomes more isolated from the surface due to the intensification of the Beaufort Gyre. These opposing AW trends in the Eurasian and Canadian Basins of the Arctic over the last 40 years suggest that AW in these two regions may evolve differently over the coming decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice ORA - Oxford University Research Archive Arctic Arctic Ocean Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 127 9 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
ORA - Oxford University Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftuloxford |
language |
English |
description |
Atlantic Water (AW) is the largest reservoir of heat in the Arctic Ocean, isolated from the surface and sea ice by a strong halocline. In recent years, AW shoaling and warming are thought to have had an increased influence on sea ice in the Eurasian Basin. In this study, we analyze 59,000 profiles from across the Arctic from the 1970s to 2018 to obtain an observationally based pan-Arctic picture of the AW layer, and to quantify temporal and spatial changes. The potential temperature maximum of the AW (the AW core) is found to be an easily detectable, and generally effective metric for assessments of AW properties, although temporal trends in AW core properties do not always reflect those of the entire AW layer. The AW core cools and freshens along the AW advection pathway as the AW loses heat and salt through vertical mixing at its upper bound, as well as via likely interaction with cascading shelf flows. In contrast to the Eurasian Basin, where the AW warms (by approximately 0.7°C between 2002 and 2018) in a pulse-like fashion and has an increased influence on upper ocean heat content, AW in the Canadian Basin cools (by approximately 0.1°C between 2008 and 2018) and becomes more isolated from the surface due to the intensification of the Beaufort Gyre. These opposing AW trends in the Eurasian and Canadian Basins of the Arctic over the last 40 years suggest that AW in these two regions may evolve differently over the coming decades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Richards, AE Johnson, HL Lique, C |
spellingShingle |
Richards, AE Johnson, HL Lique, C Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations |
author_facet |
Richards, AE Johnson, HL Lique, C |
author_sort |
Richards, AE |
title |
Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations |
title_short |
Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations |
title_full |
Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations |
title_fullStr |
Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Spatial and temporal variability of Atlantic Water in the Arctic from forty years of observations |
title_sort |
spatial and temporal variability of atlantic water in the arctic from forty years of observations |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6f47c16c-4efb-47f4-89c5-eb7ef2ce153d |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice |
op_relation |
doi:10.1029/2021JC018358 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:6f47c16c-4efb-47f4-89c5-eb7ef2ce153d https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess CC Attribution (CC BY) |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018358 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
127 |
container_issue |
9 |
_version_ |
1766318267426668544 |