The ‘interior’ shelves of the Arctic Ocean: Physical oceanographic setting, climatology and effects of sea-ice retreat on cross-shelf exchange

Williams, William J.; Carmack, Eddy C.

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2015.07.008

Cited by 80 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 114 publications

(19 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, the supply of nutrients to the euphotic zone is critical, in particular for new production. Erosion events in ice-free and lightly ice-covered waters linked to storms (Yang et al, 2004;Rainville et al, 2011;Randelhoff et al, 2014), vertical mixing (Randelhoff et al, 2015), near-inertial mixing (Fer, 2014), and upwelling along continental shelves (e.g., Tremblay et al, 2011;Williams and Carmack, 2015) have been observed. Consequently, primary production is unevenly distributed in the AO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…How does physical forcing regulate AO productivity now and how does it respond in decades to come? Primary production, in particular new production 1 , is not only forced by Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR), but also decisively by nutrient availability (Popova et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2010;Tremblay et al, 2015), which in turn is determined by the nutrient content of dominating water masses, stratification/mixing and upwelling (Carmack and McLaughlin, 2011;Williams and Carmack, 2015). In the AO, winter NO 3 concentrations typically range widely from 10 to 30 mmol N m −3 in the Pacific inflow through the Bering Strait to as little as 2 mmol N m −3 in polar surface waters of the Beaufort Gyre, with 12 mmol N m −3 in the Atlantic inflow water taking an intermediate position (Tremblay et al, 2006;Codispoti et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1) Greater upwelling of nutrient-rich waters from offshore basins onto the outer shelf when the seasonal ice edge routinely retreats past the shelf break (e.g., Williams and Carmack, 2015). (2) When ice become thinner the momentum transfer from the atmosphere to the ocean becomes more efficient which affect wind induced mixing, inertial motions and circulation (Rainville et al, 2011;Carmack et al, accepted).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Physical constrains and productivity in the future Arctic Ocean

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Today's physical oceanography and primary and secondary production was investigated for the entire Arctic Ocean (AO) with the physical-biologically coupled SINMOD model. To obtain indications on the effect of climate change in the twenty-first century the magnitude of change, and where and when these may take place SINMOD was forced with down-scaled climate trajectories of the International Panel of Climate Change with the A1B climate scenario which appears to predict an average global atmospheric temperature increase of 3.5-4 • C at the end of this century. It is projected that some surface water features of the physical oceanography in the AO and adjacent regions will change considerably. The largest changes will occur along the continuous domains of Pacific and in particular regarding Atlantic Water (AW) advection and the inflow shelves. Withdrawal of ice will increase primary production, but stratification will persist or, for the most, get stronger as a function of ice-melt and thermal warming along the inflow shelves. Thus, the nutrient dependent new and harvestable production will not increase proportionally with increasing photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). The greatest increases in primary production are found along the Eurasian perimeter of the AO (up to 40 g C m −2 y −1 ) and in particular in the northern Barents and Kara Seas (40-80 g C m −2 y −1 ) where less ice-cover implies less Arctic Water (ArW) and thus less stratification. Along the shelf break engirdling the AO upwelling and vertical mixing supplies nutrients to the euphotic zone when ice-cover withdraws northwards. The production of Arctic copepods along the Eurasian perimeter of the AO will increase significantly by the end of this century (2-4 g C m −2 y −1 ). Primary and secondary production will decrease along the southern sections of the continuous advection domains of Pacific and AW due to increasing thermal stratification. In the central AO primary production will not increase much due to stratification-induced nutrient limitation.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Physical constrains and productivity in the future Arctic Ocean

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Mathis et al, 2012;Williams and Carmack, 2015;Pickart et al, 2013a) and impacts the shelf region in various ways. Upwelling events provide nutrient 5 and CO 2 -rich (elevated pCO 2 ) water to the euphotic zone, increasing primary production (Williams and Carmack, 2015) and altering the magnitude and direction of the CO 2 flux across the air-sea interface on the shelves of the Beaufort Sea (Mathis et al, 2012). Saline water brought onto the shelf in the fall preconditions it for greater salt export through brine drainage in the subsequent winter (Melling, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inorganic carbon fluxes on the Mackenzie Shelf of the Beaufort Sea

Mol

Thomas

Myers

et al. 2017

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The Mackenzie Shelf in the southeastern Beaufort Sea is a region that has experienced large changes in the past several decades as warming, sea-ice loss, and increased river discharge have altered carbon cycling. Upwelling and downwelling events are common on the shelf, caused by strong, fluctuating along-shore winds, resulting in cross-shelf Ekman transport, and an alternating estuarine and anti-estuarine circulation. Downwelling carries inorganic carbon and other 10 remineralization products off the shelf and into the deep basin for possible long-term storage in the world oceans. Upwelling River freshwater, and sea-ice melt on carbon dynamics and air-sea fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) in the surface mixed layer. 20Understanding carbon transfer in this seasonally dynamic environment is key to quantify the importance of Arctic shelf regions to the global carbon cycle and provide a basis for understanding how it will respond to the aforementioned climateinduced changes.

show abstract

“…More generally, it would appear that changes in cross-shelf exchange are most important for the interior shelves (sensu Williams and Carmack, 2015) where nutrients are rather scarce to begin with. There is the projection that continued warming will release organic nutrients bound in the permafrost landscapes of northern Siberia and Alaska and flush them out into the Arctic Ocean (Frey and McClelland, 2009).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Short Commentary on Marine Productivity at Arctic Shelf Breaks: Upwelling, Advection and Vertical Mixing

Randelhoff¹,

Sundfjord²

2017

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract.The future of Arctic marine ecosystems has received increasing attention in recent years as the extent of the sea ice cover is dwindling. Although the Pacific and Atlantic inflows both import huge quantities of nutrients and plankton, they feed into the Arctic Ocean in quite diverse regions. The strongly stratified Pacific sector has a historically heavy ice cover, a shallow shelf and dominant upwelling-favourable winds, while the Atlantic sector is weakly stratified, with a dynamic ice edge and a 5 complex bathymetry. We argue that shelf break upwelling is likely not a universal but rather a regional, albeit recurring feature of "the new Arctic". Instead, it is the regional oceanography that decides its importance through a range of diverse factors such as stratification, bathymetry and wind forcing. Teasing apart their individual contributions in different regions can only be achieved by spatially resolved timeseries and dedicated modelling efforts. The Northern Barents Sea shelf is an example of a region where shelf break upwelling likely does not play a dominant role, in contrast to the shallower shelves north of Alaska, 10 where ample evidence for its importance has already accumulated.Copyright statement.

show abstract

The ‘interior’ shelves of the Arctic Ocean: Physical oceanographic setting, climatology and effects of sea-ice retreat on cross-shelf exchange

Cited by 80 publications

References 114 publications

Physical constrains and productivity in the future Arctic Ocean

Physical constrains and productivity in the future Arctic Ocean

Inorganic carbon fluxes on the Mackenzie Shelf of the Beaufort Sea

Short Commentary on Marine Productivity at Arctic Shelf Breaks: Upwelling, Advection and Vertical Mixing

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About