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Transport of Pacific Water Into the Canada Basin and the Formation of the Chukchi Slope Current
Author(s) -
Spall Michael A.,
Pickart Robert S.,
Li Min,
Itoh Motoyo,
Lin Peigen,
Kikuchi Takashi,
Qi Yiquan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1029/2018jc013825
Subject(s) - canyon , oceanography , geology , hydrography , canada basin , current (fluid) , ocean gyre , advection , beaufort scale , arctic , continental shelf , boundary current , structural basin , current meter , ocean current , geomorphology , fishery , subtropics , biology , thermodynamics , physics
Abstract A high‐resolution regional ocean model together with moored hydrographic and velocity measurements is used to identify the pathways and mechanisms by which Pacific water, modified over the Chukchi shelf, crosses the shelf break into the Canada Basin. Most of the Pacific water flowing into the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait enters the Canada Basin through Barrow Canyon. Strong advection allows the water to cross the shelf break and exit the shelf. Wind forcing plays little role in this process. Some of the outflowing water from Barrow Canyon flows to the east into the Beaufort Sea; however, approximately 0.4 to 0.5 Sv turns to the west forming the newly identified Chukchi Slope Current. This transport occurs at all times of year, channeling both summer and winter waters from the shelf to the Canada Basin. The model indicates that approximately 75% of this water was exposed to the mixed layer within the Chukchi Sea, while the remaining 25% was able to cross the shelf during the stratified summer before convection commences in late fall. We view the O ( 0 . 5 ) Sv of the Chukchi Slope Current as replacing Beaufort Gyre water that would have come from the east in the absence of the cross‐topography flow in Barrow Canyon. The weak eastward flow on the Beaufort slope is also consistent with the local disruption of the Beaufort Gyre by the Barrow Canyon outflow.