Freshwater in the Arctic Ocean 2010–2019
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Published:2021-08-17
Issue:4
Volume:17
Page:1081-1102
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ISSN:1812-0792
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Container-title:Ocean Science
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Ocean Sci.
Author:
Solomon Amy, Heuzé CélineORCID, Rabe BenjaminORCID, Bacon SheldonORCID, Bertino LaurentORCID, Heimbach Patrick, Inoue JunORCID, Iovino DoroteaciroORCID, Mottram RuthORCID, Zhang XiangdongORCID, Aksenov Yevgeny, McAdam RonanORCID, Nguyen An, Raj Roshin P., Tang Han
Abstract
Abstract. The Arctic climate system is rapidly transitioning into a new
regime with a reduction in the extent of sea ice, enhanced mixing in the
ocean and atmosphere, and thus enhanced coupling within the
ocean–ice–atmosphere system; these physical changes are leading to ecosystem
changes in the Arctic Ocean. In this review paper, we assess one of the
critically important aspects of this new regime, the variability of Arctic
freshwater, which plays a fundamental role in the Arctic climate system by
impacting ocean stratification and sea ice formation or melt. Liquid and solid
freshwater exports also affect the global climate system, notably by
impacting the global ocean overturning circulation. We assess how freshwater
budgets have changed relative to the 2000–2010 period. We include
discussions of processes such as poleward atmospheric moisture transport,
runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet and Arctic glaciers, the role of snow on
sea ice, and vertical redistribution. Notably, sea ice cover has become
more seasonal and more mobile; the mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet
increased in the 2010s (particularly in the western, northern, and southern regions)
and imported warm, salty Atlantic waters have shoaled. During 2000–2010, the
Arctic Oscillation and moisture transport into the Arctic are in-phase and
have a positive trend. This cyclonic atmospheric circulation pattern forces
reduced freshwater content on the Atlantic–Eurasian side of the Arctic Ocean
and freshwater gains in the Beaufort Gyre. We show that the trend in Arctic
freshwater content in the 2010s has stabilized relative to the 2000s,
potentially due to an increased compensation between a freshening of the
Beaufort Gyre and a reduction in freshwater in the rest of the Arctic Ocean.
However, large inter-model spread across the ocean reanalyses and
uncertainty in the observations used in this study prevent a definitive
conclusion about the degree of this compensation.
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Subject
Cell Biology,Developmental Biology,Embryology,Anatomy
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