Intensification of Geostrophic Currents in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Journal of climate Vol. 26; no. 10; pp. 3130 - 3138
• Main Author: McPhee, Miles G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, MA American Meteorological Society 01-05-2013
• Subjects: Amplification; Anomalies; Arctic Ocean; Atmospheric forcing; Atmospherics; Basins; Buoys; Climate; Climatology; Dynamic height; Dynamic topography; Dynamics; Earth, ocean, space; Ekman pumping; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Fresh water; Freshwater; Geopotential; Geopotential height; Gyres; Hydrographic data; Ice; Inland water environment; Marine; Ocean currents; Ocean surface; Oceans; Offshore; Physics of the oceans; Salinity; Sea ice; Sea water; Summer; Thermohaline structure and circulation. Turbulence and diffusion; Time series; Topography; Trajectories; Velocity; Wind; Wind stress; Arctic Ocean; Canada Basin; Canada; Arctic region; Drifting float; ocean basins; Geopotential height; Observation data; Intensification; Oceanographic survey; Ekman pumping; Polar region; Hydrography; Geostrophic current
• ISSN: 0894-8755; 1520-0442
• DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-12-00289.1

Continuous sampling of upper-ocean hydrographic data in the Canada Basin from various sources spanning from 2003 through 2011 provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe changes occurring in a major feature of the Arctic Ocean. In a 112-km-radius circle situated near the center of the traditional Beaufort Gyre, geopotential height referenced to 400 dbar increased by about 0.3 gpm from 2003 to 2011, and by the end of the period had increased by about 65% from the climatological value. Near the edges of the domain considered, the anomalies in dynamic height are much smaller, indicating steeper gradients. A rough dynamic topography constructed from profiles collected between 2008 and 2011 shows the center of the gyre to have shifted south by about 2° in latitude, along the 150°W meridian. Geostrophic currents are much stronger on the periphery of the gyre, reaching amplitudes 5–6 times higher than climatological values at grid points just offshore from the Beaufort and Chukchi shelf slopes. Estimates of residual buoy drift velocity after removing the expected wind-driven component are consistent with surface geostrophic currents calculated from hydrographic data. A three-decade time series of integrated ocean surface stress curl during late summer near the center of the Beaufort Gyre shows a large increase in downward Ekman pumping on decadal scales, emphasizing the importance of atmospheric forcing in the recent accumulation of freshwater in the Canada Basin. Geostrophic current intensification appears to have played a significant role in the recent disappearance of old ice in the Canada Basin.