Abstract
Aleutian eddies are mesoscale anticyclonic eddies formed within the Alaskan Stream region between 180° meridian and 170° E south of the Aleutian Islands. They propagate southwestward after the isolation from the Alaskan Stream and pass through the Western Subarctic Gyre. We compared hydrographic structures of three Aleutian eddies observed during summer, west of 170° E (Eddy A) and east of 170° E (Eddies B and C). In each eddy, a subsurface dichothermal water (3.0–4.0 °C) was observed above a subsurface mesothermal water (4.0–4.5 °C). The minimum temperature in the dichothermal water at around a depth of 100 m was colder in Eddy A (2.8 °C) than in Eddies B and C (3.0–3.2 °C). This difference could be ascribed to wintertime cooling and influence of surrounding waters during spring warming period. The wintertime cooling makes the dichothermal water colder for eddies isolated from the Alaskan Stream region for a longer time. Particle-tracking experiments using re-analysis products from a data-assimilative eddy resolving ocean model suggested that the dichothermal water within Eddy A was cooled by the entrainment of surrounding colder water even during the spring warming period. The mesothermal waters at depth around 250 m demonstrated similarity among the observed eddies, and the maximum temperature in the mesothermal water within Eddy A (4.3 °C) was close to that of Eddies B and C (4.2 °C) in the in situ observations. These results indicated that the dichothermal water of Aleutian eddies modifies over time, whereas the mesothermal water maintains the original feature as they propagate southwestward from the Alaskan Stream region to the Western Subarctic Gyre.
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Acknowledgments
We express our thanks to the captain, officers, and crew members of T/S Oshoro-maru, School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University and the members of Physical Oceanography Laboratory, Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University for their help in data collection at sea. The altimeter products were produced by SSALTO/DUCSCS and distributed by AVISO with support from Collecte Localisation Satellites. The FRA-ROMS re-analysis dataset were generated and provided by National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research Agency of Japan. The sea surface temperature (GHRSST) was provided by Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The climatological net surface heat flux was produced and provided by National Oceanography Centre, Natural Environment Research Council. The present study was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows 25–271, KAKENHI Grant 25257206/15H05818 of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). We also thank Professor Joerg-Olaf Wolff, Chief Editor; Dr. Pierre De Mey, Associate Editor of Ocean Dynamics; and two anonymous reviewers. Their valuable comments were helpful and greatly improved the present manuscript.
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Fig. S1
Isolation of Eddy A from the Alaskan Stream region from the late March to the mid-April 2010. Contour shows absolute dynamic height (cm) from AVISO. Bold contours (10 and 12 cm in the absolute dynamic height) correspond to the outer edge of Alaskan Stream (PPTX 208 kb)
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Saito, R., Yasuda, I., Komatsu, K. et al. Subsurface hydrographic structures and the temporal variations of Aleutian eddies. Ocean Dynamics 66, 605–621 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-016-0936-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-016-0936-0