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On ocean current induced by a prograding ice pack
Author(s) -
Neshyba S.,
BadanDangon A.
Publication year - 1974
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/gl001i008p00351
Subject(s) - baroclinity , geology , oceanography , current (fluid) , sverdrup , zonal and meridional , sea ice , climatology , arctic
An ice cover which progrades over a shallow ocean may induce a baroclinic flow in the underlying water, providing that the brine excluded from the freezing surface layer is mixed rapidly through out the underlying water column. For a simplified model of the shallow northern part of the Bering Sea the near‐surface flow rate is of the order of 2 cm sec −1 and directed to the east. Volume transport, assuming a nominal depth of 100 m, is about 0.1 Sverdrup. Over a 3 month freezing period up to 800 km³ are transported through a given meridional section of this model. One might conclude that the process may play a significant role in winter circulation in the Bering Sea.