Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin

Pacific Summer Water (PSW) plays a critical role in the ecosystem of the western Arctic Ocean, impacting sea-ice melt and providing freshwater to the basin. Most of the water exits the Chukchi Sea shelf through Barrow Canyon, but the manner in which this occurs and the ultimate fate of the water rem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical Research Letters
Main Authors: Lin, Peigen, Pickart, Robert S., Våge, Kjetil, Li, Jianqiang
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: AGU 2021
Subjects:
VDP::Oseanografi: 452
VDP::Oceanography: 452
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Barrow Canyon
Chukchi Sea
Pacific
Arctic Basin
Chukchi
Sea ice
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2991010
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094693
Description
Summary:Pacific Summer Water (PSW) plays a critical role in the ecosystem of the western Arctic Ocean, impacting sea-ice melt and providing freshwater to the basin. Most of the water exits the Chukchi Sea shelf through Barrow Canyon, but the manner in which this occurs and the ultimate fate of the water remain uncertain. Using an extensive collection of historical hydrographic and velocity data, we demonstrate how the PSW outflow depends on different wind conditions, dictating whether the warm water progresses eastward or westward away from the canyon. The current carrying the water westward along the continental slope splits into different branches, influenced by the strength and extent of the Beaufort Gyre, while the eastward penetration of PSW along the shelfbreak is limited. Our results provide the first broad-scale view of how PSW is transferred from the shelf to the basin, highlighting the role of winds, boundary currents, and eddy exchange. publishedVersion

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