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A Steady Regime of Volume and Heat Transports in the Eastern Arctic Ocean in the Early 21st Century

Authors :
A. V. Pnyushkov
I. V. Polyakov
G. V. Alekseev
I. M. Ashik
T. M. Baumann
E. C. Carmack
V. V. Ivanov
R. Rember
Source :
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2021.

Abstract

Mooring observations in the eastern Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean showed that mean 2013–2018 along-slope volume and heat (calculated relative to the freezing temperature) transports in the upper 800 m were 4.8 ± 0.1 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3/s) and 34.8 ± 0.6 TW, respectively. Volume and heat transports within the Atlantic Water (AW) layer (∼150–800 m) in 2013–2018 lacked significant temporal shifts at annual and longer time scales: averaged over the two periods of mooring deployment in 2013–2015 and 2015–2018, volume transports were 3.1 ± 0.1 Sv, while AW heat transports were 31.3 ± 1.0 TW and 34.8 ± 0.8 TW. Moreover, the reconstructed AW volume transports over longer, 2003–2018, period of time showed strong interannual variations but lacked a statistically significant trend. However, we found a weak positive trend of 0.08 ± 0.07 Sv/year in the barotropic AW volume transport estimated using dynamic ocean topography (DOT) measurements in 2003–2014 – the longest period spanned by the DOT dataset. Vertical coherence of 2013–2018 transports in the halocline (70–140 m) and AW (∼150–800 m) layers was high, suggesting the essential role of the barotropic forcing in constraining along-slope transports. Quantitative estimates of transports and their variability discussed in this study help identify the role of atlantification in critical changes of the eastern Arctic Ocean.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
22967745
Volume :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Marine Science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.30e1c622c05f44f08c5e9dce0e5d5ceb
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.705608