The impact of tides on mixing and freshwater export in the Laptev Sea

The vast and shallow Laptev Sea shelf is seasonally ice covered and receives large amounts of freshwater runoff from the Lena River. This shelf is an important export region for sea ice and freshwater to the Arctic basin, and features strong vertical and horizontal gradients which separate the saline basin waters from the fresh coastal waters. Processes promoting shear instabilities and diapycnal mixing are therefore of interest for physical and biogeochemical properties. The Laptev Sea shelf features considerable shear in under-ice currents largely dominated by the baroclinicity in semidiurnal tides. We present an investigation into semidiurnal tides based on year-round oceanographic moorings from different locations across the Laptev Sea shelf. Harmonic analysis of ADCP records shows a strong depth-dependence in the clockwise tidal currents that can be linked to stratification and further shows large spatial and seasonal variability of tides. Total current magnitudes are stronger on the outer than on the inner shelf, and tides overall explain >80% of the current’s variance throughout the year. On the inner shelf, tides play a comparatively greater role under sea ice (40-70%) than during open water periods (20-50%) when wind-induced inertial motions dominate. The ADCP records are further complemented by two cross-shelf microstructure transects which show episodes of intense turbulent kinetic energy dissipation in the pycnocline following the alignment of the semidiurnally rotating shear-vector and the surface forcing, hence underlining the potential influence of tides on diapycnal mixing. Our results highlight the potential of tides to vertically transport freshwater, heat and nutrients, and provide some first order insights into how the physical environment of this shelf may change with changing sea ice conditions

Water mass properties derived from satellite observations in the Barents Sea

The Barents Sea is a region of deep water formation where Atlantic Water is converted into cooler, fresher Barents Sea Water. Barents Sea Water properties exhibit variability at seasonal, interannual, and decadal timescales. This variability is transferred to Arctic Intermediate Water, which eventually contributes to the deeper branch of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Variations in Barents Sea Water properties are reflected in steric height (contribution of density to sea‐level variations) that depends on heat and freshwater contents and is a quantity usually derived from in situ observations of water temperature, salinity, and pressure that remain sparse during winter in the Barents Sea. This analysis explores the utility of satellite observations for representing Barents Sea Water properties and identifying trends and sources of variability through novel methods. We present our methods for combining satellite observations of eustatic height (the contribution of mass to sea‐level variations), sea surface height, and sea surface temperature, validated by in situ temperature and salinity profiles, to estimate steric height. We show that sea surface temperature is a good proxy for heat content in the upper part of the water column in the southeastern Barents Sea and that freshwater content can be reconstructed from satellite data. Our analysis indicates that most of the seasonality in Barents Sea Water properties arises from the balance between ocean heat transport and atmospheric heat flux, while its interannual variability is driven by heat and freshwater advection

Observed atlantification of the Barents Sea Causes the polar front to limit the expansion of winter sea ice

Barents Sea Water (BSW) is formed from Atlantic Water that is cooled through atmospheric heat loss and freshened through seasonal sea ice melt. In the eastern Barents Sea, the BSW and fresher, colder Arctic Water meet at the surface along the Polar Front (PF). Despite its importance in setting the northern limit of BSW ventilation, the PF has been poorly documented, mostly eluding detection by observational surveys that avoid seasonal sea ice. In this study, satellite sea surface temperature (SST) observations are used in addition to a temperature and salinity climatology to examine the location and structure of the PF and characterize its variability over the period 1985–2016. It is shown that the PF is independent of the position of the sea ice edge and is a shelf slope current constrained by potential vorticity. The main driver of interannual variability in SST is the variability of the Atlantic Water temperature, which has significantly increased since 2005. The SST gradient associated with the PF has also increased after 2005, preventing sea ice from extending south of the front during winter in recent years. The disappearance of fresh, seasonal sea ice melt south of the PF has led to a significant increase in BSW salinity and density. As BSW forms the majority of Arctic Intermediate Water, changes to BSW properties may have far-reaching impacts for Arctic Ocean circulation and climate

The variability of Indonesian throughflow in Sumba Strait and its linkage to the climate events

As one of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) outflow passages, the Sumba Strait is a meeting point for the Pacific and the Indian Ocean water mass. In order to study the long-term variability of ITF flowing via Sumba Strait, this research uses observational data from the Ekspedisi WIdya Nusantara (EWIN) research cruise conducted in August 2016 to validate the altimetric geostrophic surface current by referencing the shear velocity. Stating the referenced level to 700 m, geostrophic transport is calculated using the Monthly Isopycnal/Mixed-Layer Ocean Climatology (MIMOC) data. Over the period of 1993-2016, the results demonstrate a dominant seasonal pattern for the geostrophic variability. While the total geostrophic transport shows a main westward direction towards the Indian Ocean, the Sumba Strait provides only a small portion (less than 0.1 Sv) for westward ITF geostrophic current. Intraseasonally, the maximum transport occurs during the southeast monsoon. The reversal of South Java Current (SJC), which flows with the eastward direction heading to the Savu Sea, is observed as the intrusion for westward ITF in almost every monsoon season. Despite having an unclear year to year cycle, climate mode of the Indian Ocean may have more influence on the surface geostrophic variability at the Sumba Strait. On the other hand, ocean-atmosphere coupling in the Pacific Ocean has a role in regulating geostrophic transport variation within the Sumba Strait. Using a statistical approach, the findings emphasize that the throughflow may well be impacted as well as feedback on both ENSO and IOD since there is robustness in those variables

Eddies and the distribution of Eddy Kinetic Energy in the Arctic Ocean

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in von Appen, W.-J., Baumann, T. M., Janout, M., Koldunov, N., Lenn, Y.-D., Pickart, R. S., Scott, R. B., & Wang, Q. Eddies and the distribution of eddy kinetic energy in the Arctic Ocean. Oceanography, 35(2), (2022), https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2022.122.Mesoscale eddies are important to many aspects of the dynamics of the Arctic Ocean. Among others, they maintain the halocline and interact with the Atlantic Water circumpolar boundary current through lateral eddy fluxes and shelf-basin exchanges. Mesoscale eddies are also important for transporting biological material and for modifying sea ice distribution. Here, we review what is known about eddies and their impacts in the Arctic Ocean in the context of rapid climate change. Eddy kinetic energy (EKE) is a proxy for mesoscale variability in the ocean due to eddies. We present the first quantification of EKE from moored observations across the entire Arctic Ocean and compare those results to output from an eddy resolving numerical model. We show that EKE is largest in the northern Nordic Seas/Fram Strait and it is also elevated along the shelf break of the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current, especially in the Beaufort Sea. In the central basins, EKE is 100–1,000 times lower. Generally, EKE is stronger when sea ice concentration is low versus times of dense ice cover. As sea ice declines, we anticipate that areas in the Arctic Ocean where conditions typical of the North Atlantic and North Pacific prevail will increase. We conclude that the future Arctic Ocean will feature more energetic mesoscale variability

Increasing nutrient fluxes and mixing regime changes in the eastern Arctic Ocean

Primary productivity in the Arctic Ocean is experiencing dramatic changes linked to the receding sea ice cover. The vertical transport of nutrients from deeper water layers is the limiting factor for primary production. Here, we compare coincident profiles of turbulence and nutrients from the Siberian Seas in 2007, 2008, and 2018. In all years, the water column structure in the upstream region of the Arctic Boundary Current promotes upward nutrient transport, in contrast to the regions further downstream, and there are first indications for an eastward progression of these conditions. In summer 2018, strongly enhanced vertical nitrate flux and primary production above the continental slope were observed, likely related to a remote storm. The estimated contribution of these elevated fluxes above the slope to the Pan-Arctic vertical nitrate supply is comparable with the basin-wide transport, and is predicted to increase with declining sea ice cover in the future

On the Along-Slope Heat Loss of the Boundary Current in the Eastern Arctic Ocean

This study presents recent observations to quantify oceanic heat fluxes along the continental slope of the Eurasian part of the Arctic Ocean, in order to understand the dominant processes leading to the observed along-track heat loss of the Arctic Boundary Current (ABC). We investigate the fate of warm Atlantic Water (AW) along the Arctic Ocean continental margin of the Siberian Seas based on 11 cross-slope conductivity, temperature, depth transects and direct heat flux estimates from microstructure profiles obtained in summer 2018. The ABC loses on average urn:x-wiley:21699275:media:jgrc24332:jgrc24332-math-0006(108) J m−2 per 100 km during its propagation along the Siberian shelves, corresponding to an average heat flux of 47 W m−2 out of the AW layer. The measured vertical heat flux on the upper AW interface of on average 10 W m−2 in the deep basin, and 3.7 W m−2 above the continental slope is larger than previously reported values. Still, these heat fluxes explain less than 20% of the observed heat loss within the boundary current. Heat fluxes are significantly increased in the turbulent near-bottom layer, where AW intersects the continental slope, and at the lee side of a topographic irregularity. This indicates that mixing with ambient colder water along the continental margins is an important contribution to AW heat loss. Furthermore, the cold halocline layer receives approximately the same amount of heat due to upward mixing from the AW, compared to heat input from the summer-warmed surface layer above. This underlines the importance of both surface warming and increased vertical mixing in a future ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer

Can Drake Passage Observations Match Ekman's Classic Theory?

Ekman's theory of the wind-driven ocean surface boundary layer assumes a constant eddy viscosity and predicts that the current rotates with depth at the same rate as it decays in amplitude. Despite its wide acceptance, Ekman current spirals are difficult to observe. This is primarily because the spirals are small signals that are easily masked by ocean variability and cannot readily be separated from the geostrophic component. This study presents a method for estimating ageostrophic currents from shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler data in Drake Passage and finds that observations are consistent with Ekman's theory. By taking into account the sampling distributions of wind stress and ageostrophic velocity, the authors find eddy viscosity values in the range of 0.08–0.12 m2 s−1 that reconcile observations with the classic theory in Drake Passage. The eddy viscosity value that most frequently reconciles observations with the classic theory is 0.094 m2 s−1, corresponding to an Ekman depth scale of 39 m

Wind-driven mixing at intermediate depths in an ice-free Arctic Ocean

Recent seasonal Arctic Ocean sea ice retreat is a major indicator of polar climate change. The Arctic Ocean is generally quiescent with the interior basins characterized by low levels of turbulent mixing at intermediate depths. In contrast, under conditions of reduced sea ice cover, there is evidence of energetic internal waves that have been attributed to increased momentum transfer from the atmosphere to the ocean. New measurements made in the Canada Basin during the unusually ice-free and stormy summer of 2012 show previously observed enhancement of internal wave energy associated with ice-free conditions. However, there is no enhancement of mixing at intermediate depths away from significant topography. This implies that contrary to expectations of increased wind-induced mixing under declining Arctic sea ice cover, the stratification in the central Canada Basin continues to suppress turbulent mixing at intermediate depths and to effectively isolate the large Atlantic and Pacific heat reservoirs from the sea surface