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Pacific Ocean inflow: Influence on catastrophic reduction of sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean
Author(s) -
Shimada Koji,
Kamoshida Takashi,
Itoh Motoyo,
Nishino Shigeto,
Carmack Eddy,
McLaughlin Fiona,
Zimmermann Sarah,
Proshutinsky Andrey
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl025624
Subject(s) - arctic sea ice decline , halocline , arctic ice pack , sea ice , oceanography , geology , climatology , canada basin , antarctic sea ice , drift ice , anticyclone , fast ice , structural basin , arctic , environmental science , salinity , paleontology
The spatial pattern of recent ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean is similar to the distribution of warm Pacific Summer Water (PSW) that interflows the upper portion of halocline in the southern Canada Basin. Increases in PSW temperature in the basin are also well‐correlated with the onset of sea‐ice reduction that began in the late 1990s. However, increases in PSW temperature in the basin do not correlate with the temperature of upstream source water in the northeastern Bering Sea, suggesting that there is another mechanism which controls these concurrent changes in ice cover and upper ocean temperature. We propose a feedback mechanism whereby the delayed sea‐ice formation in early winter, which began in 1997/1998, reduced internal ice stresses and thus allowed a more efficient coupling of anticyclonic wind forcing to the upper ocean. This, in turn, increased the flux of warm PSW into the basin and caused the catastrophic changes.