Observations of water masses and circulation with focus on the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean from the 1990s to the late 2000s

Rudels, Bert; Schauer, Ursula; Björk, Göran; Korhonen, Meri; Pisarev, Sergey; Rabe, Benjamin; Wisotzki, Andreas

doi:10.5194/os-9-147-2013

Cited by 73 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…3a). This water mass enters through the Fram Strait (between Greenland and Svalbard) and through the Barents Sea, as previously reported by Jones (2001) and Rudels et al (2013).…”

Section: Regional Settingsmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…In terms of the physical processes in intermediate and deep waters, the long residence times of water in the Eurasian Basin is due to the highly restricted exchange of water with the surrounding oceans (Rudels et al, 2013). Also, the Fram Strait has a sill depth of 2500 m, so Arctic Bottom Water from the Eurasian Basin has an isolation age of 250 years (Schlosser et al, 1997).…”

Section: Aiw and Adwmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate relevant trace gases (N2O and CH4) in the Eurasian Basin (Arctic Ocean)

Verdugo

Damm

Snoeijs

et al. 2016

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers

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A B S T R A C TThe concentration of greenhouse gases, including nitrous oxide (N 2 O), methane (CH 4 ), and compounds such as total dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP t ), along with other oceanographic variables were measured in the icecovered Arctic Ocean within the Eurasian Basin (EAB). The EAB is affected by the perennial ice-pack and has seasonal microalgal blooms, which in turn may stimulate microbes involved in trace gas cycling. Data collection was carried out on board the LOMROG III cruise during the boreal summer of 2012. Water samples were collected from the surface to the bottom layer (reaching 4300 m depth) along a South-North transect (SNT), from 82.19°N, 8.75°E to 89.26°N, 58.84°W, crossing the EAB through the Nansen and Amundsen Basins. The Polar Mixed Layer and halocline waters along the SNT showed a heterogeneous distribution of N 2 O, CH 4 and DMSP t , fluctuating between 42-111 and 27-649% saturation for N 2 O and CH 4, respectively; and from 3.5 to 58.9 nmol L −1 for DMSP t . Spatial patterns revealed that while CH 4 and DMSP t peaked in the Nansen Basin, N 2 O was higher in the Amundsen Basin. In the Atlantic Intermediate Water and Arctic Deep Water N 2 O and CH 4 distributions were also heterogeneous with saturations between 52% and 106% and 28% and 340%, respectively. Remarkably, the Amundsen Basin contained less CH 4 than the Nansen Basin and while both basins were mostly under-saturated in N 2 O. We propose that part of the CH 4 and N 2 O may be microbiologically consumed via methanotrophy, denitrification, or even diazotrophy, as intermediate and deep waters move throughout EAB associated with the overturning water mass circulation. This study contributes to baseline information on gas distribution in a region that is increasingly subject to rapid environmental changes, and that has an important role on global ocean circulation and climate regulation.

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“…3a). This water mass enters through the Fram Strait (between Greenland and Svalbard) and through the Barents Sea, as previously reported by Jones (2001) and Rudels et al (2013).…”

Section: Regional Settingsmentioning

confidence: 49%

Section: Aiw and Adwmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate relevant trace gases (N2O and CH4) in the Eurasian Basin (Arctic Ocean)

Verdugo

Damm

Snoeijs

et al. 2016

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This indicates that about half of the inflow to the upper Atlantic layer and 3/5 of the lower Atlantic layer return towards Fram Strait within the Nansen Basin. This is less than the almost total return flow suggested by Rudels et al (2013) but it is still substantial.…”

Section: Atlantic Watermentioning

confidence: 53%

“…34, reproduction of Fig. 4 in Rudels et al, 2013) we find the ratio between the two waters to be about 1 : 1 in AW1 and 1 : 2 in AW2, the shelf input being the largest. If the difference in thickness is taken as evidence that the transports in the Atlantic layers diminish between the Nansen and the Amundsen Basin then the supply to the AW1 layer in the Amundsen Basin is about equal to the supply to the Nansen Basin.…”

Section: Atlantic Watermentioning

confidence: 97%

Time and space variability of freshwater content, heat content and seasonal ice melt in the Arctic Ocean from 1991 to 2011

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Changes in the hydrography of the Arctic Ocean have recently been reported. The upper ocean has been freshening and pulses of warm Atlantic Water have been observed to spread into the Arctic Ocean. Although these changes have been intensively studied, salinity and temperature variations have less frequently been considered together. Here hydrographic observations, obtained by icebreaker expeditions conducted between 1991 and 2011, are analyzed and discussed. Five different water masses in the upper 1000 m of the water column are examined in five sub-basins of the Arctic Ocean. This allows for studying the variations of the distributions of the freshwater and heat contents in the Arctic Ocean not only in time but also laterally and vertically. In addition, the seasonal ice melt contribution is separated from the permanent, winter, freshwater content of the Polar Mixed Layer. Because the positions of the icebreaker stations vary between the years, the icebreaker observations are at each specific point in space and time compared with the Polar Science Center Hydrographic Climatology to separate the effects of space and time variability on the observations. The hydrographic melt water estimate is discussed and compared with the potential ice melt induced by atmospheric heat input estimated from the ERA–Interim and NCEP/NCAR reanalyses. After a period of increased salinity in the upper ocean during the 1990s, both the Polar Mixed Layer and the upper halocline have been freshening. The increase in freshwater content in the Polar Mixed Layer is primarily driven by a decrease in salinity, not by changes in Polar Mixed Layer depth, whereas the freshwater is accumulating in the upper halocline mainly through the increasing thickness of the halocline. This is especially evident in the Northern Canada Basin, where the most substantial freshening is observed. The warming, and to some extent also the increase in salinity, of the Atlantic Water during the early 1990s extended from the Nansen Basin into the Amundsen and Makarov basins, while the warm and saline inflows occurring during the 2000s appear to be confined to the Nansen Basin, suggesting that the warm and saline inflow through Fram Strait largely recirculates in the Nansen Basin.

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“…The reasons behind this phenomenon are likely more intense vertical homogenization during winter, including deeper layers of Atlantic water. Rudels et al (2013) related the homogenization to mechanical mixing processes due to wind and the topographic slope, which might increase the entrainment of Atlantic water into the surface layer.…”

Section: Links Between Ocean Heat Transport and Sea Ice Meltmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review

2014

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Abstract. Sea ice is the central component and most sensitive indicator of the Arctic climate system. Both the depletion and areal decline of the Arctic sea ice cover, observed since the 1970s, have accelerated since the millennium. While the relationship of global warming to sea ice reduction is evident and underpinned statistically, it is the connecting mechanisms that are explored in detail in this review.Sea ice erodes both from the top and the bottom. Atmospheric, oceanic and sea ice processes interact in nonlinear ways on various scales. Feedback mechanisms lead to an Arctic amplification of the global warming system: the amplification is both supported by the ice depletion and, at the same time, accelerates ice reduction. Knowledge of the mechanisms of sea ice decline grew during the 1990s and This article reviews recent progress in understanding the sea ice decline. Processes are revisited from atmospheric, oceanic and sea ice perspectives. There is strong evidence that decisive atmospheric changes are the major driver of sea ice change. Feedbacks due to reduced ice concentration, surface albedo, and ice thickness allow for additional local atmospheric and oceanic influences and self-supporting feedbacks. Large-scale ocean influences on Arctic Ocean hydrology and circulation are highly evident. Northward heat fluxes in the ocean are clearly impacting the ice margins, especially in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic. There is little indication of a direct and decisive influence of the warming ocean on the overall sea ice cover, due to an isolating layer of cold and fresh water underneath the sea ice.

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Observations of water masses and circulation with focus on the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean from the 1990s to the late 2000s

Abstract: Abstract. The circulation and water mass properties in the Eurasian Basin are discussed based on a review of previous research and an examination of observations made

Cited by 73 publications

References 67 publications

Climate relevant trace gases (N2O and CH4) in the Eurasian Basin (Arctic Ocean)

Climate relevant trace gases (N2O and CH4) in the Eurasian Basin (Arctic Ocean)

Time and space variability of freshwater content, heat content and seasonal ice melt in the Arctic Ocean from 1991 to 2011

Recent advances in understanding the Arctic climate system state and change from a sea ice perspective: a review

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