Abstract
The warming of the Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) is studied based on the analyses of hydrographic observations in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean during 1985–2006. It is shown that how the anomalously warm AIW spreads in the Canada Basin during the observation time through the analysis of the AIW temperature spatial distribution in different periods. The results indicate that by 2006, the entire Canada Basin has almost been covered by the warming AIW. In order to study interannual variability of the AIW in the Canada Basin, the Canada Basin is divided into five regions according to the bottom topography. From the interannual variation of AIW temperature in each region, it is shown that a cooling period follows after the warming event in upstream regions. At the Chukchi Abyssal Plain and Chukchi Plateau, upstream of the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current (ACBC) in the Canada Basin, the AIW temperature reached maximum and then started to fall respectively in 2000 and 2002. However, the AIW in the Canada Abyssal Plain and Beaufort Sea continues to warm monotonically until the year 2006. Furthermore, it is revealed that there is convergence of the AIW depth in the five different regions of the Canada Basin when the AIW warming occurs during observation time. The difference of AIW depth between the five regions of the Canada Basin is getting smaller and smaller, all approaching 410 m in recent years. The results show that depth convergence is related to the variation of AIW potential density in the Canada Basin.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aagaard K, Swift J H, Carmack E C. 1985. Thermohaline circulation in the arctic mediterranean seas. Journal of Geophysical Research, 90: 4833–4846
Boyer T P, Antonov J I, Garcia H E, et al. 2006. World Ocean Database 2005. In: Levitus S, ed. NOAA Atlas NESDIS 60. Washington, D C: U.S. Government Printing Office, 190
Carmack E C, Aagaard K, Swift J H, et al. 1997. Changes in temperature and tracer distributions within the Arctic Ocean: Results from the 1994 Arctic Ocean section. Deep Sea Research: part II, 44: 1487–1502
Carmack E C, Macdonald R W, Perkin R G, et al. 1995. Evidence for warming of Atlantic water in the southern Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean: results from the Larsen-93 expedition. Geophysical Research Letter, 22: 1061–1064
Deser C, Walsh J E, Timlin M S. 2000. Arctic Sea Ice Variability in the Context of Recent Atmospheric Circulation Trends. Journal Climate, 13: 617–633
Dickson R R, Osborn T J, Hurrell J W, et al. 2000. The Arctic Ocean response to the North Atlantic Oscillation. Journal Climate, 13: 2671–2696
Edwards M H, Coakley B J. 2003. SCICEX investigations of the Arctic Ocean System. Chemie der Erde, 63(4): 281–328
Grotefendt K, Logemann K, Quadfasel D, et al. 1998. Is the Arctic Ocean warming. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103: 27679–27687
Karcher M J, Gerdes R, Kauker F, et al. 2003. Arctic warming: evolution and spreading of the 1990s warm event in the Nordic seas and the Arctic Ocean. Journal Geophysical Research, 108(C2): 3034, doi:10.1029/2001JC001265
McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C, Macdonald R W, et al. 2004. The joint roles of Pacific and Atlantic-origin waters in the Canada Basin, 1997–1998. Deep Sea Research: part I, 51: 107–128
McLaughlin F, Shimada K, Carmack E, et al. 2005. The hydrography of the southern Canada Basin, 2002. Polar Biology, 28: 182–189
Morison J, Steele M, Anderson R, 1998. Hydrography of the upper Arctic Ocean measured from the nuclear submarine USS Pargo. Deep Sea Research: part I, 45: 15–38
Polyakov I V, Alekseev G V, Timokhov L A, et al. 2004. Variability of the intermediate Atlantic Water of the Arctic Ocean over the last 100 years. Journal of Climate, 17(23): 4485–4497
Proshutinsky A, Bourke R H, McLaughlin F A. 2002. The role of the Beaufort Gyre in Arctic climate variability: Seasonal to decadal climate scales. Geophysical Research Letters, 29(23): 2100, doi:10.1029/2002GL015847
Quadfasel D, Sy A, Rudels B. 1993. A ship of opportunity section to the North Pole: upper ocean temperature observations. Deep Sea Research: part I, 40: 777–789
Quadfasel D, Sy A, Wells D, et al. 1991. Warming in the Arctic. Nature, 350: 385
Rudels B, Friedrich H J, Quadfasel D R. 1999. The Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current. Deep Sea Research: part II, 46: 1023–1062
Schlichtholz P, Houssais M. 2002. An overview of the θ-S correlations in Fram Strait based on the MIZEX 84 data. Oceanologia, 44: 243–272
Shimada K, McLaughlin F, Carmack E, et al. 2004. Penetration of the 1990s warm temperature anomaly of Atlantic Water in the Canada Basin. Geophysical Research Letters, 31: L20301, doi:10.1029/2004GL020860
Steele M, Boyd T. 1998. Retreat of the cold halocline layer in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103: 10419–10435
Steele M, Morison J, Ermold W, et al. 2004. Circulation of summer Pacific halocline water in the Arctic Ocean. Journal Geophysical Research, 109: C02027, doi:10.1029/2003JC002009
Stroeve J C, Serreze M C, Fetterer F, et al. 2005. Tracking the Arctic’s shrinking ice cover: Another extreme September minimum in 2004. Geophysical Research Letter, 32: L04501, doi: 10.1029/2004GL021810
Swift J H, Aagaard K. 1981. Seasonal transitions and water mass formation in the Iceland and Greenland seas. Deep Sea Research: part I, 28: 1107–1129
Swift J H, Jones E P, Aagaard K, et al. 1997. Waters of the Makarov and Canada Basins. Deep Sea Research: Part II, 44: 1503–1529
Treshnikov A F. 1977. Water masses of the Arctic Basin. In: Dunbar M J ed. Polar Oceans. Calgary: The Arctic Institute of North America, 17–31
Treshnikov A F, Baranov G I. 1972. Structure of the Arctic Water Circulation (in Russian). Leningrad: Gidrometeoizdat
Woodgate R A, Aagaard K, Swift J H, et al. 2007. Atlantic water circulation over the Mendeleev Ridge and Chukchi Borderland from thermohaline intrusions and water mass properties. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112: C02005, doi:10.1029/2005JC003416
Yang Xiaoyi, Fyfe John C, Gregory M. 2010. The role of poleward energy transport in Arctic temperature evolution. Geophysical Research Letters, 37: L14803, doi:10.1029/2010GL043934
Zhang Zhanhai. 2004. The reports of 2003 Chinese Arctic Research Expedition. Beijing: China Ocean Press, 7502760687
Zhang Jinglun, Steele M. 2007. The effect of vertical mixing on the Atlantic Water layer circulation in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 112: C04S04, doi:10.1029/2006JC003732
Zhao Jinping, Gao Guoping, Jiao Yutian. 2003. Warming in Arctic intermediate and deep waters around Chukchi Plateau and its adjacent regions in 1999. Science in China: Series D-Earth Sciences, 35: 1312–1320
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 40631006 and 40876003; the Polar Science Youth Innovational Foundation of China under contract No. 20080221; the National Key Basic Research Program “973” of China under contract No. 2010CB950301.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, S., Zhao, J., Su, J. et al. Warming and depth convergence of the Arctic Intermediate Water in the Canada Basin during 1985–2006. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 31, 46–54 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-012-0219-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-012-0219-7