Variation of upper-ocean heat content in the Canada Basin in summers of 2003 and 2008

ZHONG Wenli; ZHAO Jinping

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1085.2011.00235

Home > Archive > 2011 > Vol. 22, No 4, 2011 > Article Detail

RESEARCH-ARTICLE | Marine Earth Science

Variation of upper-ocean heat content in the Canada Basin in summers of 2003 and 2008

ZHONG Wenli Correspondence author

, 1, 2, ZHAO Jinping1, 2

Correspondence: wlzhongouc@163.com ORCID:

View: HTML | PDF | Download (3130.8 KB) | ESM

Vol. 22, Issue 4, pp. 235-245 (2011) • DOI

First published at: Jan 25, 2011

Abstract

Basic Infomations

References

Attachments

Cited By

Abstract

Conductivity, temperature, and depth data collected during the summers of 2003 and 2008 were used to study upper-ocean (top 200 m) heat content in the Canada Basin. The variation of heat content with depth, heat content diFFErences between the summers, principal driving factors, and horizontal spatial scale diFFErences were analyzed. A catastrophic reduction of sea ice cover in the Canada Basin was evident in 2008 by comparison with 2003, suggesting that more solar radiation was absorbed in the upper ocean during the summer of 2008. The sea ice reduction produced more freshwater in the upper ocean. Thus, seawater properties changed. The study shows that the huge reduction of sea ice would result in two changes-widespread warming of the upper ocean, and the depth of pacific inflow water in the basin increased substantially. Near-surface temperature maximum (NSTM) water was also analyzed as an indicator of Arctic Ocean warming.

Keywords

Heat content; freshwater content; NSTM; melting sea ice; Pacific inflow water

Author Address:

1. College of Physical and Environmental Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266003, China

1 Ellis J S, Vonder Haar T H. The Annual Variation in the Global Heat Balance of the Earth. J Geophys Res, 1978, 83(C4)

2 Levitus S, Antonov J I, Timothy P B, et al. Warming of the world ocean. Science, 2000, 287: 2225–2229

3 Stroeve J, Holland M M, Meier W, et al. Arctic sea ice decline: Faster than forecast. Geophys Res Lett, 2007, 34: L09501 DOI:10.1029/2007GL029703

4 Comiso J C, Parkinson C L, Gersten R, et al. Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover. Geophys Res Lett, 2008, 35: L01703 DOI:10.1029/2007GL031972

5 Perovich D K, Light B, Eicken H, et al. Increasing solar heating of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas, 1979-2005: Attribution and role in the ice-albedo feedback. Geophys Res Lett, 2007, 34: L19505 DOI:10.1029/2007GL031408

6 Steele M, Ermold W, Zhang J. Arctic Ocean surface warming trends over the past 100 years. Geophys Res Lett, 2008, 35: L02614 DOI:10.1029/2007GL031651

7 McPhee M G, Stanton T P, Morison J H, et al. Freshening of the upper ocean in the Arctic: Is perennial sea ice disappearing?. Geophys Res Lett, 1998, 25(10): 1729–1732

8 Carmack E, McLaughlin F, Yamamoto-Kawai M, et al. Freshwater storage in the Northern Ocean and the special role of the Beaufort Gyre. Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes, 2008 : 145–169 DOI:10.1007/978-1-4020-6774-7_8

9 Polyakov I V, Alexeev V, Belchansky G I, et al. Arctic Ocean freshwater changes over the past 100 years and their causes. J Climate, 2007, 21 DOI:10.1175/2007JCLI1748.1

10 Serreze M C, Holland M M, Stroeve J. Perspectives on the Arctic's shrinking sea-ice cover. Science, 2007, 315(1533) DOI:10.0026/science.1139426

11 McPhee M G, Proshutinsky A, Morison J H, et al. Rapid change in freshwater content of the Arctic Ocean. Geophys Res Lett, 2009, 36: L10602 DOI:10.1029GL037525

12 Steele M, Morison J, Ermold W, et al. Circulation of summer Pacific halocline water in the Arctic Ocean. J GeophysRes, 2004, 109(C02027) DOI:10.1029/2003JC002009

13 Coachman L K, Barnes C A. The contribution of Bering Sea water to the Arctic Ocean. Arctic, 1961, 14: 146–161

14 Shimada K, Carmack E C, Hatakeyama K, et al. Varieties of Shallow Temperature Maximum Waters in the Western Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean. Geophys Res Lett, 2001, 28(18): 3441–3444

15 Zhao J P, Shi J X, Jiao Y T. Temperature and salinity structure in summer marginal ice zone of Arctic Ocean and an analytical study on its thermodynamics. Acta Oceanologica and limnologica, 2003, 34(4): 375–388

16 Jackson J M, Carmack E C, McLaughlin F A, et al. Identification, characterization, and change of the near-surface temperature maximum in the Canada Basin, 1993-2008. J Geophys Res, 2010, 115: C05021 DOI:10.1029/2009JC005265

17 Zhao J P, Cao Y. Summer water temperature structures and their interannual variation in the upper Canada Basin. Advances in Polar Science, 2011, 22(4): 223–234 DOI:10.3724/SP.J.1085.2011.00223

18 Cao Y, Su J, Zhao J P, et al. The Study on Near Surface Temperature Maximum in the Canada Basin for 2003-2008 in Response to Sea Ice Variations. The International Society of Oshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE), 2010

19 Perovich D K, Elder B. Estimates of the ocean heat °ux at SHEBA. Geophys Res Lett, 2002, 29(9): 1344 DOI:10.1029/2001GL014171

20 Kadko D, Swart P. The source of the high heat and freshwater content of the upper ocean at the SHEBA site in the Beaufort Sea in 1997. J Geophys Res, 2004, 109(C01022) DOI:10.1029/2002JC001734

21 Shaw W J, Stanton T P, McPhee M G, et al. Role of the upper ocean in the energy budget of Arctic sea ice during SHEBA. J Geophys Res, 2009, 114(C06012) DOI:10.1029/2008JC004991

22 Steiner N, Holloway G, Gerdes R, et al. Comparing modeled streamfunction, heat and freshwater content in the Arctic Ocean. Ocean Modelling, 2004, 6: 265–284 DOI:10.1016/S1463-5003(03)00013-1

23 Shi J X, Cao Y, Zhao J P, et al. Distribution of Pacificorigin water in the region of the Chukchi Plateau in the Arctic Ocean in the summer of 2003. Acta Oceanol Sin, 2005, 24(6): 12–24

24 Aagaard K. The Beaufort undercurrent//Barens P W, Schell D W, Reimnitz E. The Alaskan Beaufort Sea: Ecosystems and Environments. Orland: Academic Press, 1984 : 47–71

25 Nakamoto S, Kumar S, Oberhuber J, et al. Chlorophyll modulation of sea surface temperature in the arabian sea in a mixed-layer isopycnal general circulation model. Geophys Res Lett, 2000, 27: 747–750

26 Yang J. The seasonal variability of the Arctic Ocean Ekman transport and its role in the mixed layer heat and salt °uxes. J Climate, 2006, 19: 5366–5387

27 Shimada K, Kamoshida T, Itoh M, et al. Pacific Ocean in°ow: In°uence on catastrophic reduction of sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean. Geophys Res Lett, 2006, 33(L08605) DOI:10.1029/2005GL025624