Replication of the Arctic Ocean surface layer with horizontal variations using a box model implemented with a probability distribution function (PDF)

Abstract Ice-tethered profiler (ITP) measurements from the Arctic Ocean’s Canada Basin indicate an ocean surface layer beneath sea ice with significant horizontal density structure on scales of hundreds of kilometers to the order 1 km submesoscale. The observed horizontal gradients in density are dynamically important in that they are associated with restratification of the surface ocean when dense water flows under light water. Such restratification is prevalent in wintertime and competes with convective mixing upon buoyancy forcing (e.g., ice growth and brine rejection) and shear-driven mixing when the ice moves relative to the ocean. Frontal structure and estimates of the balanced Richardson number point to the likelihood of dynamical restratification by isopycnal tilt and submesoscale baroclinic instability. Based on the evidence here, it is likely that submesoscale processes play an important role in setting surface-layer properties and lateral density variability in the Arctic Ocean.

Download Full-text

Nutrient Distributions in the Canadian Archipelago: Indicators of Summer Water Mass and Flow Characteristics

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f80-075 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 37 (4) ◽

pp. 589-599 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

E. P. Jones ◽

A. R. Coote

Keyword(s):

Surface Layer ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Water Mass ◽

Flow Characteristics ◽

Ocean Surface ◽

The Arctic ◽

Phosphate Nitrate ◽

Canadian Basin ◽

Mass Identification ◽

Ocean Surface Layer

Concentrations of the nutrients, phosphate, nitrate, and silicate, were measured at several locations in Lancaster Sound, Jones Sound, and Smith Sound. Arctic Ocean surface layer water flowing out through Lancaster Sound and Jones Sound have higher phosphate and silicate concentrations than that flowing out through Smith Sound. Phosphate and silicate concentrations can be useful to indicate flow patterns within some regions of the Canadian Archipelago and to delineate partially the gyre in the Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean.Key words: nutrients: phosphate, nitrate, silicate; distribution: Arctic, Canadian Archipelago; water mass, identification, mixing

Download Full-text

MOSAiC simulator in CMIP6

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-15993 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rajka Juhrbandt ◽

Suvarchal Cheedela ◽

Nikolay Koldunov ◽

Thomas Jung

Keyword(s):

Surface Layer ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Arctic Climate ◽

The Arctic ◽

Early Results ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Virtual Field ◽

Field Campaigns ◽

Type Code

The recently completed Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) can serve as reference to evaluate current and future ocean state of the Arctic Ocean. With this premise, we perform a virtual MOSAiC expedition in historical and ssp370-scenario experiments in data generated by CMIP6 models. The timespan covered ranges from preindustrial times (1851-1860) through present-day up to a 4K world (2091-2100). Early results using AWI-CM model, suggest that for scenario simulations a thinning of the colder surface layer and a warming of the layer between 200 and 1200 m along the MOSAiC path can be expected, while there is no significant change in temperature below this depth. Results from other models will be presented. The Python-centric tool used for the analysis simplifies preprocessing of a pool of CMIP6 data and selecting data on space-time trajectory. It exposes an interface that is agnostic to underlying model or its grid type. Code snippets are presented along to demonstrate the tool's ease of use with a hope to inspire such virtual field campaigns using other past observations or arbitrary trajectories.

Download Full-text

Diversity and biogeography of SAR11 bacteria from the Arctic Ocean

10.1101/517433 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Susanne Kraemer ◽

Arthi Ramachandran ◽

David Colatriano ◽

Connie Lovejoy ◽

David A. Walsh

Keyword(s):

Surface Layer ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Adaptive Evolution ◽

Brackish Water ◽

Water Mass ◽

The Arctic ◽

High Latitudes ◽

Bacterial Group ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Globally Distributed

AbstractThe Arctic Ocean is relatively isolated from other oceans and consists of strongly stratified water masses with distinct histories, nutrient, temperature and salinity characteristics, therefore providing an optimal environment to investigate local adaptation. The globally distributed SAR11 bacterial group consists of multiple ecotypes that are associated with particular marine environments, yet relatively little is known about Arctic SAR11 diversity. Here, we examined SAR11 diversity using ITS analysis and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). Arctic SAR11 assemblages were comprised of the S1a, S1b, S2, and S3 clades, and structured by water mass and depth. The fresher surface layer was dominated by an ecotype (S3-derived P3.2) previously associated with Arctic and brackish water. In contrast, deeper waters of Pacific origin were dominated by the P2.3 ecotype of the S2 clade, within which we identified a novel subdivision (P2.3s1) that was rare outside the Arctic Ocean. Arctic S2-derived SAR11 MAGs were restricted to high latitudes and included MAGs related to the recently defined S2b subclade, a finding consistent with bi-polar ecotypes and Arctic endemism. These results place the stratified Arctic Ocean into the SAR11 global biogeography and have identified SAR11 lineages for future investigation of adaptive evolution in the Arctic Ocean.

Download Full-text

Wintertime surface layer convection in the Arctic Ocean

Deep Sea Research and Oceanographic Abstracts ◽

10.1016/0011-7471(73)90016-8 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 269-283

Author(s):

Harold Solomon

Keyword(s):

Surface Layer ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

The Arctic ◽

The Arctic Ocean

Download Full-text

Vertical flows of substance in the Northern arctic ocean

10.29006/978-5-6045110-0-8/(22) ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 278-286

Author(s):

A.N. Novigatsky ◽

◽

A.P. Lisitzin ◽

V.P. Shevchenko ◽

A.A. Klyuvitkin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Layer ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Bottom Sediments ◽

The Arctic ◽

Chemical Components ◽

Vertical Fluxes ◽

Sedimentary Matter ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Direct Calculations

The monthly, seasonal and annual quantity estimates of vertical fluxes of sedimentary matter from the surface layer of the Arctic Ocean, performed out over the years by various researchers, are the basis for direct calculations of incoming chemical components, minerals, and various pollutants to the surface layer of bottom sediments.

Download Full-text