Altimeter observations of the Bering Slope Current eddy field

Okkonen, Stephen R.

doi:10.1029/2000jc000285

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, fin whales aggregate to feed along the Bering Sea slope, with densities an order of magnitude higher than on the adjacent middle shelf (Moore et al ., 2002). Recent studies of this dynamic habitat reveal the importance of cyclonic (anticlockwise) and anticyclonic (clockwise) eddies to nutrient transport and patterns of meso‐scale productivity (Okkonen, 2001; Mizobata et al ., 2002). These features are roughly 100–150 km in diameter and can pump nutrients to the surface from depths of 100–500 m. Specifically, very high chlorophyll concentrations develop in the centre of cyclonic and around the periphery of anticyclonic eddies, features that typically form at the intersection of the slope with the eastern Aleutian Islands and propagate north‐westward along the Bering slope current (Okkonen, 2001; Mizobata et al ., 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic and current habitat use by North Pacific right whales Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. To help define areas and ecological parameters critical to the survival and recovery of the remnant population of North Pacific right whales, habitat use was investigated by examining all available sighting and catch records in the south-eastern Bering Sea (SEBS) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) over the past two centuries. 2.Based on re-analyses of commercial whaling records, search effort, and resultant catches and sightings, waters of the: (i) SEBS slope and shelf, (ii) eastern Aleutian Islands and (iii) GOA slope and abyssal plain were important habitat for North Pacific right whales through the late 1960s. 3. Since 1980, the only area where right whales have been seen consistently is on the SEBS middle shelf. However, acoustic detections and single sightings have been reported in all other regions except the SEBS slope and oceanic GOA (areas where little, if any, acoustic and visual effort has occurred). 4. Sightings since 1979 were in waters < 200 m deep which may simply reflect the paucity of search effort elsewhere. From the commercial whaling era to the late 1960s, right whales were commonly seen in waters > 2000 m deep, indicating that their distribution is not restricted to shallow continental shelves. 5. North Pacific right whale sightings through the centuries have been associated with a variety of oceanic features, and there is little in common in the bathymetry of these regions. These whales appear to have a greater pelagic distribution than that observed in the North Atlantic, which may be related to the availability of larger copepods across the SEBS and GOA.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historic and current habitat use by North Pacific right whales Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Paluszkiewicz and Niebauer ( 1984 ) provide rough estimates for the temporal (2-6 months) and spatial (order 100 km) scales of the BSC eddy fi eld using satellite imagery and suggest the variability in the eddy fi eld was associated with changes in fl ow through the passes between the eastern Aleutian Islands. Okkonen ( 2001 ) later used 4 years of TOPEX satellite altimeter data to refi ne these estimates and show that the most energetic activity in the BSC eddy fi eld typically occurs in the spring and summer months and is characterized by along-slope wavelengths of ~200 km and wave periods of ~4 months.…”

Section: The Bering Shelf-breakmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shelf-Break Exchange in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas

Williams¹,

Kinney

Itoh

et al. 2014

The Pacific Arctic Region

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Bering and Chukchi/Beaufort shelf-breaks form the beginning and end of the dramatic sea-level and wind-forced fl ow of Pacifi c Ocean water across the Bering and Chukchi continental shelves between the Pacifi c and Arctic Oceans. Recent model results suggest that the on-shelf fl ow in the Bering is distributed along the shelf-break, wind-dependant, focused by Zhemchug and Bering canyons and modifi ed by shelf-break eddies. Similarly, the off-shelf fl ow in the Chukchi/Beaufort is mediated by canyons, shelf-break jets, eddies, and wind forcing. In the Chukchi, fl ow is channeled through Barrow and Herald canyons to the shelf-break, where across-slope fl ow in Ekman boundary layers and instabilities result in the exchange of water and properties across the slope. In addition, dense shelf-water, created from brine rejection during ice formation in coastal polynyas, has been observed to fl ow downslope through Barrow Canyon. Along the Beaufort shelf, the shelf-break current is unstable, shedding eddies that populate the deep Beaufort basin. Upwelling favorable winds in summer have been observed to modify the structure of the shelfbreak current and drive exchange across the Chukchi and Beaufort slopes. Most of

show abstract

“…The main currents in the Bering Sea include the westwards flowing ANSC along with the Aleutian archipelago and the anticlockwise flowing BSC in the slope [34,35]. Seasonal upwelling, caused by wind and eddies (due to the difference of currents velocity), on the southeastern slope and southern Bering Sea close to the Aleutian archipelago, would also occur during the summer (e.g., [2,46,80,90,91]) and bring high DIC and nutrient concentrations from subsurface water to the surface layer [24]. The slope in the northeast was influenced by the broad, northwestwards flowing BSC and appeared to be a system of eddies rather than a continuous current [80,82], therefore the shelf-basin exchange processes of intensive tidal mixing and eddies likely play an important role in pCO 2 variability.…”

Section: The Influence Of Mixingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seasonal upwelling, caused by wind and eddies (due to the difference of currents velocity), on the southeastern slope and southern Bering Sea close to the Aleutian archipelago, would also occur during the summer (e.g., [2,46,80,90,91]) and bring high DIC and nutrient concentrations from subsurface water to the surface layer [24]. The slope in the northeast was influenced by the broad, northwestwards flowing BSC and appeared to be a system of eddies rather than a continuous current [80,82], therefore the shelf-basin exchange processes of intensive tidal mixing and eddies likely play an important role in pCO 2 variability. Mixing processes supply nutrients to the regions adjacent to the slope and enhance primary production, eventually leading to a biological drawdown of pCO 2 [22].…”

Section: The Influence Of Mixingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such a delayed influence of the previous spring's biological effect could be a reason for the ~50 μatm overestimation of satellite-derived pCO2 on the slope in July 2010 (Figure 6b). Another possible reason for the overestimation could be due to tidal mixing and upwelling on the slope [80][81][82]; however, these overestimated data had salinity lower than 32.7 (Figure 6b), which would be less possible from the influence of the sub-surface high-pCO2, high salinity (>33 psu) water [46,81,83].…”

Section: Influence Of the Biological Effect On Pcomentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Remote Sensing of Sea Surface pCO2 in the Bering Sea in Summer Based on a Mechanistic Semi-Analytical Algorithm (MeSAA)

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The Bering Sea, one of the largest and most productive marginal seas, is a crucial carbon sink for the marine carbonate system. However, restricted by the tough observation conditions, few underway datasets of sea surface partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO 2 ) have been obtained, with most of them in the eastern areas. Satellite remote sensing data can provide valuable information covered by a large area synchronously with high temporal resolution for assessments of pCO 2 that subsequently allow quantification of air-sea carbon dioxide 2 flux. However, pCO 2 in the Bering Sea is controlled by multiple factors and thus it is hard to develop a remote sensing algorithm with empirical regression methods. In this paper pCO 2 in the Bering Sea from July to September was derived based on a mechanistic semi-analytical algorithm (MeSAA). It was assumed that the observed pCO 2 can be analytically expressed as the sum of individual components controlled by major factors. First, a reference water mass that was minimally influenced by biology and mixing was identified in the central basin, and then thermodynamic and biological effects were parameterized for the entire area. Finally, we estimated pCO 2 with satellite temperature and chlorophyll data. Satellite results agreed well with the underway observations. Our study suggested that throughout the Bering Sea the biological effect on pCO 2 was more than twice as important as temperature, and contributions of other effects were relatively small. Furthermore, satellite observations demonstrate that the spring phytoplankton bloom had a delayed effect on summer pCO 2 but that the influence of this biological event varied regionally; it was more significant on the continental slope, with a later bloom, than that on the shelf with an early bloom. Overall, the MeSAA algorithm was not only able to estimate pCO 2 in the Bering Sea for the first time, but also provided a quantitative analysis of the contribution of various processes that influence pCO 2 .

show abstract

Altimeter observations of the Bering Slope Current eddy field

Cited by 23 publications

References 18 publications

Historic and current habitat use by North Pacific right whales Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska

Historic and current habitat use by North Pacific right whales Eubalaena japonica in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska

Shelf-Break Exchange in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas

Remote Sensing of Sea Surface pCO2 in the Bering Sea in Summer Based on a Mechanistic Semi-Analytical Algorithm (MeSAA)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About