What proportion of the north pacific current finds its way into the Gulf of Alaska?

2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard J. Freeland
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
The North ◽  
North Pacific Current ◽  
The North Pacific

scholarly journals Seasonal Evolution of Aleutian Low Pressure Systems: Implications for the North Pacific Subpolar Circulation*

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1317-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Pickart ◽  
Alison M. Macdonald ◽  
G. W. K. Moore ◽  
Ian A. Renfrew ◽  
John E. Walsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Aleutian Low ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Fall ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Low Pressure Systems

Abstract The seasonal change in the development of Aleutian low pressure systems from early fall to early winter is analyzed using a combination of meteorological reanalysis fields, satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data, and satellite wind data. The time period of the study is September–December 2002, although results are shown to be representative of the long-term climatology. Characteristics of the storms were documented as they progressed across the North Pacific, including their path, central pressure, deepening rate, and speed of translation. Clear patterns emerged. Storms tended to deepen in two distinct geographical locations—the Gulf of Alaska in early fall and the western North Pacific in late fall. In the Gulf of Alaska, a quasi-permanent “notch” in the SST distribution is argued to be of significance. The signature of the notch is imprinted in the atmosphere, resulting in a region of enhanced cyclonic potential vorticity in the lower troposphere that is conducive for storm development. Later in the season, as winter approaches and the Sea of Okhotsk becomes partially ice covered and cold, the air emanating from the Asian continent leads to enhanced baroclinicity in the region south of Kamchatka. This corresponds to enhanced storm cyclogenesis in that region. Consequently, there is a seasonal westward migration of the dominant lobe of the Aleutian low. The impact of the wind stress curl pattern resulting from these two regions of storm development on the oceanic circulation is investigated using historical hydrography. It is argued that the seasonal bimodal input of cyclonic vorticity from the wind may be partly responsible for the two distinct North Pacific subarctic gyres.

Plankton populations at the bifurcation of the North Pacific Current

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 536-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
SONIA D. BATTEN ◽  
HOWARD J. FREELAND
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
The North ◽  
North Pacific Current ◽  
The North Pacific

Biology of the Pacific Pomfret (Brama japonica) in the North Pacific Ocean

1993 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 2608-2625 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Pearcy ◽  
Joseph P. Fisher ◽  
Mary M. Yoklavich
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
North Pacific Ocean ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Large Fish ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Subarctic Current ◽  
The North Pacific

Abundances of Pacific pomfret (Brama japonica), an epipelagic fish of the North Pacific Ocean, were estimated from gillnet catches during the summers of 1978–1989. Two size modes were common: small pomfret <1 yr old, and large fish ages 1–6. Large and small fish moved northward as temperatures increased, but large fish migrated farther north, often into the cool, low-salinity waters of the Central Subarctic Pacific. Lengths of small fish were positively correlated with latitude and negatively correlated with summer surface temperature. Interannual variations in the latitude of catches correlated with surface temperatures. Large catches were made in the eastern Gulf of Alaska (51–55°N) but modes of small pomfret were absent here, and large fish were rare at these latitudes farther to the west. Pomfret grow rapidly during their first two years of life. They are pectoral fin swimmers that swim continuously. They prey largely on gonatid squids in the region of the Subarctic Current in the Gulf of Alaska during summer. No evidence was found for aggregations on a scale ≤1 km. Differences in the incidence of tapeworm, spawning seasons, and size distributions suggest the possibility of discrete populations in the North Pacific Ocean.

scholarly journals Quaternary radiolarian biostratigraphy in the subarctic northeastern Pacific (IODP Expedition 341 Site U1417) and synchroneity of bioevents across the North Pacific

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji M. Matsuzaki ◽  
Noritoshi Suzuki
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Northwestern Pacific ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
The North ◽  
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program ◽  
Northeastern Pacific ◽  
Radiolarian Biostratigraphy ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract. Expedition 341 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) retrieved sediment cores spanning the time interval between the Pleistocene and Miocene from the southern Gulf of Alaska. Onboard Pleistocene radiolarian biostratigraphy is hereby refined by increasing the sampling resolution. The 178 core samples from the upper 190 m CCSF-B (Composite Core Depth Scale F-B) of Site U1417 contained faunal elements similar to the northwestern Pacific; for example, the three biozones in the northwestern Pacific (i.e., Eucyrtidium matuyamai, Stylatractus universus and Botryostrobus aquilonaris) were also recognized in the Gulf of Alaska, spanning 1.80–1.13 Ma, 1.13–0.45 Ma, and the last 0.45 Myr, respectively. Based on the age model that we used in this study and the shipboard paleomagnetic reversal events, the first occurrences (FOs) of Amphimelissa setosa and Schizodiscus japonicus in the northeastern Pacific were preliminarily determined to be 1.48 and 1.30 Ma, respectively. The last occurrence (LO) of Eucyrtidium matuyamai and the FO of Lychnocanoma sakaii, both well-established bioevents in the northwestern Pacific, were dated at 0.80 and 1.13 Ma, respectively. The LO of E. matuyamai is a synchronous event at 1.05 ± 0.1 Ma in the North Pacific, while the FOs of A. setosa and S. japonicus at 1.48 and 1.30 Ma, respectively, are significantly older than what has been found elsewhere.

scholarly journals Roles of the Okhotsk Sea and Gulf of Alaska in forming the North Pacific Intermediate Water

2000 ◽  
Vol 105 (C2) ◽  
pp. 3253-3280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzhu You ◽  
Nobuo Suginohara ◽  
Masao Fukasawa ◽  
Ichiro Yasuda ◽  
Ikuo Kaneko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
Okhotsk Sea ◽  
North Pacific Intermediate Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

scholarly journals Characteristics and Variability of Storm Tracks in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Alaska*

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheld S. Mesquita ◽  
David E. Atkinson ◽  
Kevin I. Hodges
Keyword(s):  
Bering Sea ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Storm Track ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Relative Vorticity ◽  
Reanalysis Data ◽  
Storm Tracks ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Pacific

Abstract The North Pacific and Bering Sea regions represent loci of cyclogenesis and storm track activity. In this paper climatological properties of extratropical storms in the North Pacific/Bering Sea are presented based upon aggregate statistics of individual storm tracks calculated by means of a feature-tracking algorithm run using NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data from 1948/49 to 2008, provided by the NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Climate Diagnostics Center. Storm identification is based on the 850-hPa relative vorticity field (ζ) instead of the often-used mean sea level pressure; ζ is a prognostic field, a good indicator of synoptic-scale dynamics, and is directly related to the wind speed. Emphasis extends beyond winter to provide detailed consideration of all seasons. Results show that the interseasonal variability is not as large during the spring and autumn seasons. Most of the storm variables—genesis, intensity, track density—exhibited a maxima pattern that was oriented along a zonal axis. From season to season this axis underwent a north–south shift and, in some cases, a rotation to the northeast. This was determined to be a result of zonal heating variations and midtropospheric moisture patterns. Barotropic processes have an influence in shaping the downstream end of storm tracks and, together with the blocking influence of the coastal orography of northwest North America, result in high lysis concentrations, effectively making the Gulf of Alaska the “graveyard” of Pacific storms. Summer storms tended to be longest in duration. Temporal trends tended to be weak over the study area. SST did not emerge as a major cyclogenesis control in the Gulf of Alaska.

The occurrence of shearwaters (Puffinus spp.) off the west coast of Canada

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2064-2077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan R. Guzman ◽  
M. T. Myres
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Continental Shelf ◽  
West Coast ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Washington State ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The North Pacific

Shearwaters, Puffinus spp., were studied off the west coast of Canada from 1975 to 1978. Sooty shearwaters, P. griseus, were the most abundant shearwaters off British Columbia in both May and September–October. Pink-footed shearwaters, P. creatopus, also occurred in both spring and fall. Flesh-footed shearwaters, P. carneipes, were found only in May. Buller's shearwaters, P. bulleri, were encountered in June and July during cruises across the Gulf of Alaska and in September and October off British Columbia. The recent increase of Buller's shearwater in the North Pacific is documented. A review of records of the short-tailed shearwater, P. tenuirostris, shows that it is usually rare and irregular off the coast of British Columbia. One black-vented shearwater, P. opisthomelas, was seen in the Gulf of Alaska. Sooty shearwaters occur off British Columbia in far lower numbers than off northern California, Oregon or Washington State. The manner in which sooty shearwaters migrate is described. The relationship between shearwater distributions and depths of water over the continental shelf are examined.

scholarly journals Seasonal pH and aragonite saturation horizons in the Gulf of Alaska during the North Pacific Survey, 1956–1957

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 4587-4602
Author(s):  
S. McKinnell ◽  
J. R. Christian
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Aragonite Saturation ◽  
System Parameters ◽  
The North ◽  
Ph Scale ◽  
M Estimates ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Carbon System

Abstract. The extent of global change in carbon system parameters can only be evaluated by comparing present with past measurements. In the northern North Pacific, where aragonite saturation horizons are among the shallowest in the world, historical measurements of carbonate parameters vary from rare to nonexistent. However, during the summer of 1956 and winter of 1957, an extensive survey of the oceanography of the Northeast Pacific, under the auspices of the Canadian Committee on Oceanography, was conducted by the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Approximately 2500 measurements of pH at depths from surface to 2000 m were taken throughout the Gulf of Alaska, in addition to measurements of nutrient and hydrographic properties. After conversion to the contemporary total pH scale, these data revealed significant seasonal and latitudinal differences in pH in the upper 200 m. Estimates of aragonite saturation indicate that undersaturated water was a common feature of the surface mixed layer north of 51° N latitude in the winter of 1957. The North Pacific Survey data were compared with the results of a summer 2007 survey of the west coast of North America where pH levels were ~0.1 pH units lower (at a reference density of 26.2σθ than was found in the summer of 1956.

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