Does Puget Sound have a long-term memory?
More than a decade of high-resolution, full-water column data collected by profiling UW ORCA/NANOOS moorings in several Puget Sound Basins are used to investigate interannual variability of near-surface and deep water properties. Although there are no significant trends in temperature, salinity, den...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Western CEDAR
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/397 https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2832&context=ssec |
| Summary: | More than a decade of high-resolution, full-water column data collected by profiling UW ORCA/NANOOS moorings in several Puget Sound Basins are used to investigate interannual variability of near-surface and deep water properties. Although there are no significant trends in temperature, salinity, density and dissolved oxygen spanning the last decade, measurements show steady and relatively strong trends in these variables over periods of 3 to 5 years in both South Sound near bottom waters and in south Hood Canal deep water. For example, the annual minimum density in south Hood Canal deep water increased four years in a row from 2006 to 2009, then this trend reversed for three years. In Carr Inlet the annual maximum deep temperature increased five years in a row from 2011 to 2015, with deep salinity following a similar trend. As these trends are significantly longer than expected flushing and residence times (< year), this hints at potential interannual dynamical feedbacks, longer-term system “memory”, and/or similar trends in ocean and atmospheric forcing. Using archived National Data Buoy Center, National Weather Service and UW Atmospheric Sciences data we explore and report on potential factors contributing to these trends. |
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