Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean
Observations of ocean currents in the Arctic interior show a curious, and hitherto unexplained, vertical and temporal distribution of mesoscale activity. A marked seasonal cycle is found close to the surface: strong eddy activity during summer, observed from both satellites and moorings, is followed...
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ftunivtasmania:oai:eprints.utas.edu.au:38110 2023-05-15T14:27:32+02:00 Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean Meneghello, G Marshall, J Lique, C Isachsen, PE Doddridge, E Campin, J-M Regan, H Talandier, C 2020 application/pdf https://eprints.utas.edu.au/38110/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/38110/1/142581%20-%20Genesis%20and%20decay%20of%20mesoscale%20baroclinic%20eddies%20in%20the%20seasonally%20ice-covered.pdf en eng Amer Meteorological Soc https://eprints.utas.edu.au/38110/1/142581%20-%20Genesis%20and%20decay%20of%20mesoscale%20baroclinic%20eddies%20in%20the%20seasonally%20ice-covered.pdf Meneghello, G, Marshall, J, Lique, C, Isachsen, PE, Doddridge, E orcid:0000-0002-6097-5729 , Campin, J-M, Regan, H and Talandier, C 2020 , 'Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean' , Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol. 51, no. 1 , 115–129 , doi:10.1175/JPO-D-20-0054.1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0054.1>. sea ice Arctic ocean dynamics Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftunivtasmania https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0054.1 2021-11-01T23:17:55Z Observations of ocean currents in the Arctic interior show a curious, and hitherto unexplained, vertical and temporal distribution of mesoscale activity. A marked seasonal cycle is found close to the surface: strong eddy activity during summer, observed from both satellites and moorings, is followed by very quiet winters. In contrast, subsurface eddies persist all year long within the deeper halocline and below. Informed by baroclinic instability analysis, we explore the origin and evolution of mesoscale eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean. We find that the surface seasonal cycle is controlled by friction with sea ice, dissipating existing eddies and preventing the growth of new ones. In contrast, subsurface eddies, enabled by interior potential vorticity gradients and shielded by a strong stratification at a depth of approximately 50 m, can grow independently of the presence of sea ice. A high-resolution pan-Arctic ocean model confirms that the interior Arctic basin is baroclinically unstable all year long at depth. We address possible implications for the transport of water masses between the margins and the interior of the Arctic basin, and for climate models’ ability to capture the fundamental difference in mesoscale activity between ice-covered and ice-free regions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Basin Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints Arctic Arctic Ocean Journal of Physical Oceanography 51 1 115 129 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tasmania: UTas ePrints |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasmania |
language |
English |
topic |
sea ice Arctic ocean dynamics |
spellingShingle |
sea ice Arctic ocean dynamics Meneghello, G Marshall, J Lique, C Isachsen, PE Doddridge, E Campin, J-M Regan, H Talandier, C Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean |
topic_facet |
sea ice Arctic ocean dynamics |
description |
Observations of ocean currents in the Arctic interior show a curious, and hitherto unexplained, vertical and temporal distribution of mesoscale activity. A marked seasonal cycle is found close to the surface: strong eddy activity during summer, observed from both satellites and moorings, is followed by very quiet winters. In contrast, subsurface eddies persist all year long within the deeper halocline and below. Informed by baroclinic instability analysis, we explore the origin and evolution of mesoscale eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean. We find that the surface seasonal cycle is controlled by friction with sea ice, dissipating existing eddies and preventing the growth of new ones. In contrast, subsurface eddies, enabled by interior potential vorticity gradients and shielded by a strong stratification at a depth of approximately 50 m, can grow independently of the presence of sea ice. A high-resolution pan-Arctic ocean model confirms that the interior Arctic basin is baroclinically unstable all year long at depth. We address possible implications for the transport of water masses between the margins and the interior of the Arctic basin, and for climate models’ ability to capture the fundamental difference in mesoscale activity between ice-covered and ice-free regions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meneghello, G Marshall, J Lique, C Isachsen, PE Doddridge, E Campin, J-M Regan, H Talandier, C |
author_facet |
Meneghello, G Marshall, J Lique, C Isachsen, PE Doddridge, E Campin, J-M Regan, H Talandier, C |
author_sort |
Meneghello, G |
title |
Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior arctic ocean |
publisher |
Amer Meteorological Soc |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/38110/ https://eprints.utas.edu.au/38110/1/142581%20-%20Genesis%20and%20decay%20of%20mesoscale%20baroclinic%20eddies%20in%20the%20seasonally%20ice-covered.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Basin Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Basin Arctic Arctic Ocean Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/38110/1/142581%20-%20Genesis%20and%20decay%20of%20mesoscale%20baroclinic%20eddies%20in%20the%20seasonally%20ice-covered.pdf Meneghello, G, Marshall, J, Lique, C, Isachsen, PE, Doddridge, E orcid:0000-0002-6097-5729 , Campin, J-M, Regan, H and Talandier, C 2020 , 'Genesis and decay of mesoscale baroclinic eddies in the seasonally ice-covered interior Arctic Ocean' , Journal of Physical Oceanography, vol. 51, no. 1 , 115–129 , doi:10.1175/JPO-D-20-0054.1 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0054.1>. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-20-0054.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
51 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
115 |
op_container_end_page |
129 |
_version_ |
1766301310768906240 |