Typical Arctic Profiles
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Typical Arctic profiles MIXED LAYER Usually thin (no wind stirring) PACIFIC WATER High nutrients Shallow (<200m) Tmax Comparatively fresh (<33psu) Mostly only in Western Arctic ATLANTIC WATER T>0ºC, deeper than 200m Tmax and layer below Higher Salinities Radionuclide tracers Eastern Arctic warmer Bottom Water “the rest” Western Arctic warmer Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 1 Pacific and Atlantic in T-S Space Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 2 The watermass zoo From Ekwurzel etal, 2001, JGR Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 3 Bering Strait Basics The only Pacific gateway to the Arctic Ocean ~ 85 km wide ~ 50 m deep -divided into 2 channels by the Diomede Islands - split by the US- - is an integrator of the Russian border properties of the Bering Sea -ice covered from ~ January -dominates the water to April properties of the Chukchi Sea - annual mean Why does a little Strait northward flow (Coachman et al, 1975; matter so much? Woodgate et al, 2005) ~0.8 Sv Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 4 The Bering Sea/Bering Strait Relationship Exit route! ANSF= Aleutian North Slope Current From BSC = Bering Stabeno, Slope Current Schumacher & Ohtani, Anadyr 1999 waters (colder, Alaska(n) saltier, Coastal nutrient-rich) Current (warm, fresh, Bering seasonal) Shelf Waters (in between!) By providing an exit, Bering Strait influences flow over the Bering Sea Shelf (although the deep Bering Sea Basin may not care) Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 5 Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea Nutrient-rich Anadyr waters To first order, except for Bering Shelf - cooling waters - input from coastal Alaskan polynyas, Coastal Current (warm, fresh, Chukchi seasonal) dominated by input through Siberian Bering Strait Coastal Current (cold, fresh, Export to Arctic seasonal) ~ Input through Stagnation Bering Strait Zones over Herald and Hanna Shoals Woodgate et al, DSR, 2005, http://psc.apl.washington.edu/Chukchi.html Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 6 The role of Pacific waters in the Arctic Important for 150 150 Marine Life Pacific waters 50 are the most 100 nutrient-rich 20 15 waters 50 entering the 50 Arctic (Walsh et al, 1989) 50 50 350 Primary Productivity 350 150 gC m-2 yr-1 500 Courtesy of (and adapted from) Codispoti, Stein, Macdonald, and others, 2005 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 7 The role of Pacific waters in the Arctic Chlorophyll from SeaWifs Satellite from NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Orbimage Sea ice concentration from SSMI (IABP) Implicated in the seasonal melt-back of ice In summer, Pacific waters are a source of near-surface heat 20% to the Arctic 50% (Paquette & Bourke, 1981; Ahlnäs & Garrison, 1984; Woodgate et al, 2006) Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 8 The role of Pacific waters in the Arctic Important for Significant part of Marine Life Arctic Freshwater Pacific waters Budget are the most Bering Strait nutrient-rich throughflow waters ~ 1/3rd of Arctic entering the Freshwater (Wijffels et al, 1992; Arctic Aagaard & Carmack, 1989; (Walsh et al, 1989) Woodgate & Aagaard, 2005; Serreze et al, 2006) Important for Arctic Stratification Implicated in the seasonal In winter, Pacific waters (fresher melt-back of ice than Atlantic waters) form a cold In summer, Pacific waters are (halocline) layer, which insulates the a source of near-surface heat ice from the warm Atlantic water to the Arctic (Paquette & Bourke, 1981; Ahlnäs & Garrison, beneath 1984); Woodgate et al, 2006 (Shimada et al, 2001, Steele et al, 2004) Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 9 Special Observational Challenges of Bering Strait - shallow (50 m), Two boundary currents but covered by ice - Alaskan Coastal Current (keels to 20 m) from (ACC) in the east present ~ January to April from ~ spring to mid- - stratified in winter (Paquette & Bourke, 1974) spring/summer - Siberian Coastal Current - split by the US- (SCC) present seasonally Russian border in some years in the west (Weingartner et al, 1999) Eastern Bering Strait in Winter Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 10 Bering Strait - annual mean flow ~0.8 Sv northwards, with an Basics annual cycle of 0.3 to 1.3 Sv - weekly flow reversals common (-2 Sv to +3 Sv) -1 hourly flow can be over 100 cm/s - Alaskan Coastal Current (ACC) velocities can be 50-100 cm/s stronger than midchannel flow - flow strongly rectilinear - tides are weak (Roach et al, 1995; Woodgate et al, 2005) - away from boundary currents, flow dominantly barotropic (Roach et al, 1995) - flow in east and west channel highly correlated (0.95, Woodgate et al, 2005) Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 11 Bering Strait 2004 Moorings and CTD work show temperature, salinity and velocity structure changes rapidly and on small space scales. To resolve the physics, we use: - high spatial resolution (here ~ 3km) - high temporal resolution (line run in ~4 hrs) - ship’s ADCP data 1st Sept 2004 5th Sept 2004 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 12 Getting the 4-dimensional picture Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea 2003 MOST NUTRIENTS 23rd June IN THE WEST!!! 2003 Convention line Fluorescence Chlorophyll from SeaWifs Satellite from NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center & Orbimage Sea surface temperature and altimeter satellite data too 5th –7th July 2003 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 13 What Drives the Bering Strait Throughflow? Velocity = “Pacific-Arctic Pressure Head” + “Wind Effects” Mean=northward Mean=northward Mean=southward - across-strait atmospheric pressure 10-6 sea surface slope gives gradient (Coachman & Aagaard, 1981) rise to pressure gradient - local wind (Aagaard et al, 1985 and others) between Pacific and Arctic - set-up against topography (same ref) Oceans (Coachman & Aagaard, 1966; Wind explains ca. 60 % of the variance Stigebrandt, 1984) and the seasonal cycle (Roach et al, 95) But WHY? - freshwater transport from Atlantic by atmosphere? In the mean, the - steric height difference? winds oppose the pressure head - global winds? (Nof) forcing. Thus, in ASSUMED constant winter, when winds are strongest, the - but why should it be? northward flow is (Woodgate et al, 2005, DSR) weakest. AUG APRIL Woodgate et al, 2005, GRL Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 14 Seasonal cycle in water properties (Woodgate et al, 2005) 3 WHY CARE? 2 (1) Maximum SALINITY Seasonallytemperature varying in late 31.9 to 33 psu input summerto the Arctic (2) AutumnOcean cooling ICE 1 and freshing, as 4 overlying-temperature layers TEMPERATURE mixed- salinity down -1.8 to 2.3 deg C -volume (3) Winter at - equilibriumfreezing point, depth salinisation(~50m in summer due to ~120mice formation in winter) TRANSPORT (4) Spring 0.4 to 1.2 Sv freshening-nutrient loading (due to ice melt) and then (30 day means) Interannualwarming variability? AUG APRIL Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 15 Most recent change? +1 or 2 for stratification + 800 for stratification Change in transport dominates change in heat and FW fluxes (Still only from near bottom data) In 2004 – increase driven by winds In 2007 – far field forcing?? How big are these numbers?? Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 16 Meltback in area of Pacific Water influence Bering Strait - starts the melt (then ice-albedo feedback) 20 -gives freshwater stratification to keep solar heat shallow ~ 2-5 x 10 J/Y - winter1979source of subsurface 1985 heat 1990 1995 could melt 0.6 to 1.6 million square km of 1m thick ice 2002 2005 2007 Minimum (Sept) Sea-ice extent 1/3 total USA Stern, UW, Data NASA Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 17 Bering Strait in perspective IMPACTS - Dominates Chukchi - Ventilation of Arctic Ocean - Nutrients, HEAT, FW for Arctic and beyond - Far field influence on MOC?? ~ 0.8 Sv in annual mean - highly seasonal in T,S, vol - driving mechanisms +1 or 2 for stratification FLUXES - VOLUME: Small, BUT rich in nutrients THUS also care about density + 800 for stratification - HEAT: maybe 1/5th of Fram Strait enough to melt significant area of ice - may kick off ice-albedo effects - may thin ice in winter - FRESHWATER: 1/3th of input to Arctic - highly variable Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 18 Fram Strait ~ 350km wide ~ 2700m deep St. Anna Trough Barents Sea - broad shelf sea with topographic Fram Strait YP banks Spitsbergen - deepest Arctic Greenland shelf sea (average Barents Sea ~ 230m deep) Scandinavia YP= Yermak Plateau Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 19 Fram Strait VEINS (Variability of Exchanges in the Nordic Seas) 1997 data cf Schauer et al., 2002 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 20 OUTFLOW FROM ARCTIC INFLOW TO ARCTIC PW (Polar Water) SVB (svalbard branch) MAW- (Modified Atlantic Water) YPB (Yermak Plateau branch) KB- (Knipovich Branch) ?? KB+ (Knipovich Branch) DW- (Deep Water) MAW+ (Modified Atlantic Water) DW+ (Deep Water) Schauer et al, 2002 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 21 Schauer etal, 2002 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 22 Nordic Seas Transports in Sv for period 1997-2000 (European VEINS project) FRAM STRAIT = NORTHWARD West Spitsbergen Current - warm, salty - estimated 0-7 Sv (Rudels, 1989) - large barotropic component - lots of eddies - varies seasonally - T min in winter, Vol max in winter ~ 20Sv - splits into several branches - topographically steered - wind driven? = SOUTHWARD East Greenland Current - significant velocity shear - lower kinetic energy - eddies more dominant than wind - NOT seasonal NB East Greenland Current in Greenland Sea MUCH stronger (~ 20Sv), recirculating, wind driven, seasonal Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 23 Fram Strait Mooring Data Schauer et al., 2008, SpringerBook Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 24 Changing Atlantic Inflow 2005 Arctic Change 2009 – Woodgate – Wk 4 - Mon 25 Details of temperature change depend on which branch? (Saloranta and Haugen, 2001) 1980s and 1990s – agree with Fram Strait - coherent with NAO Max winter SST 1970s – not so good agreement South end of Svalbard Warming not as extreme as suggested.