Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2019. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 124(7), (2019): 4416-4432, doi: 10.1029/2019JC015185.
Description:
Synoptic and historical shipboard data, spanning the period 1981–2017, are used to investigate the seasonal evolution of water masses on the northeastern Chukchi shelf and quantify the circulation patterns and their impact on nutrient distributions. We find that Alaskan coastal water extends to Barrow Canyon along the coastal pathway, with peak presence in September, while the Pacific Winter Water (WW) continually drains off the shelf through the summer. The depth‐averaged circulation under light winds is characterized by a strong Alaskan Coastal Current (ACC) and northward flow through Central Channel. A portion of the Central Channel flow recirculates anticyclonically to join the ACC, while the remainder progresses northeastward to Hanna Shoal where it bifurcates around both sides of the shoal. All of the branches converge southeast of the shoal and eventually join the ACC. The wind‐forced response has two regimes: In the coastal region the circulation depends on wind direction, while on the interior shelf the circulation is sensitive to wind stress curl. In the most common wind‐forced state—northeasterly winds and anticyclonic wind stress curl—the ACC reverses, the Central Channel flow penetrates farther north, and there is mass exchange between the interior and coastal regions. In September and October, the region southeast of Hanna Shoal is characterized by elevated amounts of WW, a shallower pycnocline, and higher concentrations of nitrate. Sustained late‐season phytoplankton growth spurred by this pooling of nutrients could result in enhanced vertical export of carbon to the seafloor, contributing to the maintenance of benthic hotspots in this region.
Description:
The authors acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the many crew members who sailed on the different cruises of the USCGC Healy and the R/V Palmer. This study would not have been possible without their ongoing efforts to carry out successful science operations. Seth Danielson performed the quality control of the Barrow wind data. Funding was provided by the following sources: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Grant NA14‐OAR4320158 (P. L., R. P., and L. M.), National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants OPP‐1702371 and OPP‐1733564 (R. P. and F. B.) and PLR‐1303617 (R. P., K. A., and K. L.), NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program DGE‐0645962 (K. L.), National Aeronautics and Space Administration award NNX10AF42G (R. P., K. A., and K. L.), and NOAA's Ocean Observing and Monitoring Division, Climate Program Office Fund 100007298 (C. M.). This publication is partially funded by the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) under NOAA Cooperative Agreement NA15OAR4320063 and is contribution EcoFOCI‐0924 to the Ecosystems and Fisheries‐Oceanography Coordinated Investigations, 4944 to PMEL. The CTD and shipboard ADCP data of the eight cruises are available from http://www.rvdata.us/, and the nutrients data can be accessed from https://arcticdata.io/.
Description:
2019-12-07
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
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