Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin
Abstract 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...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094693 |
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| author | Peigen Lin Robert S. Pickart Kjetil Våge Jianqiang Li |
| author_facet | Peigen Lin Robert S. Pickart Kjetil Våge Jianqiang Li |
| author_sort | Peigen Lin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2e9eb014fb7643ecbb3fc875585590ba |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-2e9eb014fb7643ecbb3fc875585590ba2025-08-20T03:22:14ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072021-10-014820n/an/a10.1029/2021GL094693Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic BasinPeigen Lin0Robert S. Pickart1Kjetil Våge2Jianqiang Li3Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA USAWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA USAUniversity of Bergen and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research Geophysical Institute Bergen NorwayState Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science College of Ocean and Earth Sciences Xiamen University Xiamen ChinaAbstract 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.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094693Pacific Summer WaterArcticBeaufort GyreChukchi Slope CurrentBeaufort Shelfbreak JetBarrow Canyon |
| spellingShingle | Peigen Lin Robert S. Pickart Kjetil Våge Jianqiang Li Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin Geophysical Research Letters Pacific Summer Water Arctic Beaufort Gyre Chukchi Slope Current Beaufort Shelfbreak Jet Barrow Canyon |
| title | Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin |
| title_full | Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin |
| title_fullStr | Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin |
| title_short | Fate of Warm Pacific Water in the Arctic Basin |
| title_sort | fate of warm pacific water in the arctic basin |
| topic | Pacific Summer Water Arctic Beaufort Gyre Chukchi Slope Current Beaufort Shelfbreak Jet Barrow Canyon |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL094693 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT peigenlin fateofwarmpacificwaterinthearcticbasin AT robertspickart fateofwarmpacificwaterinthearcticbasin AT kjetilvage fateofwarmpacificwaterinthearcticbasin AT jianqiangli fateofwarmpacificwaterinthearcticbasin |