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One-dimensional evolution of the upper water column in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean in winter
Citation
Fer, I and Peterson, AK and Randelhoff, A and Meyer, A, One-dimensional evolution of the upper water column in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Ocean in winter, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 122, (3) pp. 1665-1682. ISSN 2169-9275 (2017) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2017. The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Abstract
A one‐dimensional model is employed to reproduce the observed time evolution of hydrographic
properties in the upper water column during winter, between 26 January and 11 March
2015, in a region north of Svalbard in the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean. From
an observed initial state, vertical diffusion equations for temperature and salinity
give the hydrographic conditions at a later stage. Observations of microstructure
are used to synthesize profiles of vertical diffusivity, K, representative of varying wind forcing conditions. The ice‐ocean heat and salt fluxes
at the ice‐ocean interface are implemented as external source terms, estimated from
the salt and enthalpy budgets, using friction velocity from the Rossby similarity
drag relation, and the ice core temperature profiles. We are able to reproduce the
temporal evolution of hydrography satisfactorily for two pairs of measured profiles,
suggesting that the vertical processes dominated the observed changes. Sensitivity
tests reveal a significant dependence on K. Variation in other variables, such as the temperature gradient of the sea ice, the
fraction of heat going to ice melt, and the turbulent exchange coefficient for heat,
are relatively less important. The increase in salinity as a result of freezing and
brine release is approximately 10%, significantly less than that due to entrainment
(90%) from beneath the mixed layer. Entrainment was elevated during episodic storm
events, leading to melting. The results highlight the contribution of storms to mixing
in the upper Arctic Ocean and its impact on ice melt and mixed‐layer salt and nutrient
budgets.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Arctic Ocean, winter, heat flux, hydrography, Nansen Basin mixing, mixed layer, sea-ice, brine, storms, nutrient |
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Oceanography |
| Research Field: | Physical oceanography |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Marine systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Oceanic processes (excl. in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean) |
| UTAS Author: | Meyer, A (Dr Amelie Meyer) |
| ID Code: | 125336 |
| Year Published: | 2017 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 12 |
| Deposited By: | Oceans and Cryosphere |
| Deposited On: | 2018-04-13 |
| Last Modified: | 2018-05-21 |
| Downloads: | 126 View Download Statistics |
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