Open AccessOkhotsk Sea intermediate water formation deduced from oxygen isotope systematics
Author(s) -
Yamamoto Michiyo,
Tanaka Noriyuki,
Tsunogai Shizuo
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000jc000754
Subject(s) - salinity , subarctic climate , oceanography , seawater , sea ice , water mass , geology , isotopes of oxygen , circumpolar deep water , saline water , north atlantic deep water , geochemistry , deep water
To clarify the mechanisms of the Okhotsk Sea intermediate water formation, water samples collected in the Okhotsk Sea and neighboring western North Pacific were analyzed for δ 18 O as well as salinity and other routinely measured components. The δ 18 O‐salinity relation in the Okhotsk Sea was markedly different from that in the western subarctic Pacific feeding the Okhotsk Sea. The intermediate water of the Okhotsk Sea was less saline than that of the western subarctic water at the same density but was more saline at the same δ 18 O value, especially in the density range 26.5<σ θ <27.0. This could be due to mixing of dense shelf water formed during sea‐ice formation with neighboring water. The amount of fresh water removed by the sea‐ice formation was estimated from the salinity anomaly of the Okhotsk Sea intermediate water. The calculated amounts of fresh water removed from the Okhotsk Sea intermediate water corresponded to the amount of sea ice formed for 0.6–3.8 years in the Okhotsk Sea. This suggests that the residence time of the Okhotsk Sea intermediate water is a few years.