TY - JOUR

T1 - A warm Jet in a cold ocean

AU - MacKinnon, Jennifer

AU - Lenn, Yueng-Djern

AU - Simmons, Harper L.

AU - Hargrove, John

AU - Thomson, Jim

AU - Peacock, Thomas

AU - Alford, Matthew H.

AU - Barton, Benjamin I.

AU - Boury, Samuel

AU - Brenner, Samuel D.

AU - Couto, Nicole

AU - Danielson, Seth L.

AU - Fine, Elizabeth C.

AU - Graber, Hans C.

AU - Guthrie, John

AU - Hopkins, Joanne E.

AU - Jayne, Steven R.

AU - Jeon, Chanhyung

AU - Klenz, Thilo

AU - Lee, Craig M.

AU - Lucas, Andrew J.

AU - Lund, Bjorn

AU - Mahaffey, Claire

AU - Norman, Louisa

AU - Rainville, Luc

AU - Smith, Madison M.

AU - Thomas, Leif N.

AU - Torres-Valdes, Sinhue

AU - Wood, Kevin R.

PY - 2021/4/23

Y1 - 2021/4/23

N2 - Unprecedented quantities of heat are entering the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait, particularly during summer months. Though some heat is lost to the atmosphere during autumn cooling, a significant fraction of the incoming warm, salty water subducts (dives beneath) below a cooler fresher layer of near-surface water, subsequently extending hundreds of kilometers into the Beaufort Gyre. Upward turbulent mixing of these sub-surface pockets of heat is likely accelerating sea ice melt in the region. This Pacific-origin water brings both heat and unique biogeochemical properties, contributing to a changing Arctic ecosystem. However, our ability to understand or forecast the role of this incoming water mass has been hampered by lack of understanding of the physical processes controlling subduction and evolution of this this warm water. Crucially, the processes seen here occur at small horizontal scales not resolved by regional forecast models or climate simulations; new parameterizations must be developed that accurately represent the physics. Here we present novel high resolution observations showing the detailed process of subduction and initial evolution of warm Pacific-origin water in the southern Beaufort Gyre.

AB - Unprecedented quantities of heat are entering the Pacific sector of the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait, particularly during summer months. Though some heat is lost to the atmosphere during autumn cooling, a significant fraction of the incoming warm, salty water subducts (dives beneath) below a cooler fresher layer of near-surface water, subsequently extending hundreds of kilometers into the Beaufort Gyre. Upward turbulent mixing of these sub-surface pockets of heat is likely accelerating sea ice melt in the region. This Pacific-origin water brings both heat and unique biogeochemical properties, contributing to a changing Arctic ecosystem. However, our ability to understand or forecast the role of this incoming water mass has been hampered by lack of understanding of the physical processes controlling subduction and evolution of this this warm water. Crucially, the processes seen here occur at small horizontal scales not resolved by regional forecast models or climate simulations; new parameterizations must be developed that accurately represent the physics. Here we present novel high resolution observations showing the detailed process of subduction and initial evolution of warm Pacific-origin water in the southern Beaufort Gyre.

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-021-22505-5

DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-22505-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 33893280

VL - 12

SP - 2418

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

IS - 1

ER -