Abstract
As a conservative tracer, oxygen isotopes in seawater are widely used for water mass analysis, along with temperature and salinity. In this study, seawater oxygen-18 datasets in the Canada Basin during 1967–2010 were obtained from the four cruises of the Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (1999, 2003, 2008, and 2010) and the NASA database. Fractions of sea ice meltwater and river runoff were determined from the salinity-δ18O system. Our results showed that the river runoff decreased from the south to the north in the Canada Basin. The enhanced amount of river runoff observed in the southern Canada Basin may originate from the Mackenzie River, transported by the Beaufort Gyre. The river runoff component showed maximum fractions during 1967–1969, 1978–1979, 1984–1985, 1993–1994, and 2008–2010, indicating the refresh time of the river runoff was 5.0–16.0 a in the Canada Basin. The temporal variation of the river runoff was related to the change of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) index, suggesting the freshwater stored in the Canada Basin was affected by surface sea ice drift and water mass movement driven by atmospheric circulation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aagaard K, Carmack E C. 1989. The role of sea ice and other fresh water in the Arctic circulation. Journal of Geophysical Research, 94(C10): 14485–14498
Bauch D, Erlenkeuser H, Andersen N. 2005. Water mass processes on Arctic shelves as revealed from 18O of H2O. Global Planetary Change, 48: 165–174
Bauch D, Hölemann J, Andersen N, et al. 2011. The Arctic shelf regions as a source of freshwater and brine-enriched waters as revealed from stable oxygen isotopes. Polarforschung, 80(3): 127–140
Bauch D, Schlosser P, Fairbanks R G. 1995. Freshwater balance and the sources of deep and bottom waters in the Arctic Ocean inferred from the distribution of H2 18O. Progress in Oceanography, 35: 53–80
Chen Min, Huang Yipu, Jin Mingming, et al. 2003. The sources of the upper and lower halocline water in the Canada Basin derived from isotopic tracers. Science in China (Series D), 46: 625–639
Chen Min, Xing Na, Huang Yipu, et al. 2008. The mean residence time of river water in the Canada Basin. Chinese Science Bulletin, 53: 777–783
Cooper L W, Benner R, McClelland J W, et al. 2005. Linkages among runoff, dissolved organic carbon, and the stable oxygen isotope composition of seawater and other water mass indicators in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 110: doi: 10.1029/2005JG000031
Dickson R R. 1999. All change in the Arctic. Nature, 397: 389–391
Dickson R R, Osborn T J, Hurrell W, et al. 2000. The Arctic Ocean response to the North Atlantic oscillation. Journal of Climate, 13: 2671–2696
Dickson R R, Yashayaev I, Meincke J, et al. 2002. Rapid freshening of the deep North Atlantic over the past four decades. Nature, 416: 832–837
Dukhovskoy D, Johnson M, Proshutinsky A. 2006. Arctic decadal variability from an idealized atmosphere-ice-ocean model: 2. Simulation of decadal oscillations. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111: doi: 10.1029/2004JC002820
Ekwurzel B, Schlosser P, Mortlock R A, et al. 2001. River runoff, sea ice meltwater, and Pacific water distribution and mean residence times in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research—Oceans, 106: 9075–9092
Gao Zhongyong, Sun Heng, Chen Liqi, et al. 2012. Summertime freshwater fractions in the surface water of the western Arctic Ocean evaluated from total alkalinity. Advances in Polar Science, 23(2): 95–102
Giles A K, Seymour W L. 2012. Western Arctic Ocean freshwater storage increased by wind-driven spin-up of the Beaufort Gyre. Nature Geoscience, 5(3): 194–197
Hurrell J W. 1995. Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation: regional temperatures and precipitation. Science, 269: 676–679
Karcher M, Gerdes R, Kauker F, et al. 2005. Arctic Ocean change heralds North Atlantic freshening. Geophysical Research Letters, 32: doi: 10.1029/2005GL023861
Macdonald R W, McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C. 2002. Fresh water and its sources during the SHEBA drift in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean. Deep-Sea Research I, 49: 1769–1785
Maslanik J A, Fowler C, Stroeve J, et al. 2007. A younger, thinner Arctic ice cover: increased potential for rapid, extensive sea ice loss. Geophysical Research Letters, 34: doi: 10.1029/2007GL032043
McPhee M G, Proshutinsky A, Morison J H, et al. 2009. Rapid change in freshwater content of the Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 36: doi: 10.1029/2009GL037525
Melling H, Moore R M. 1995. Modification of halocline source waters during freezing on the Beaufort Sea shelf: evidence from oxygen isotopes and dissolved nutrients. Continental Shelf Research, 15: 89–113
Melnikov I. 1997. The Arctic sea ice ecosystem. Antarctic Science, 9(4): 457–458
Morison J, Steele M, Andersen R. 1998. Hydrography of the upper Arctic Ocean measured from the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Pargo. Deep-Sea Research I, 45(1): 15–38
Östlund H G. 1982. The residence time of the freshwater component in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 87: 2035–2043
Östlund H G, Hut G. 1984. Arctic Ocean water mass balance from isotope data. Journal of Geophysical Research, 89: 6373–6382
Proshutinsky A Y, Bourke R, McLaughlin F. 2002. The role of the Beaufort Gyre in Arctic climate variability: seasonal to decadal climate scales. Geophysical Research Letters, 29: doi: 10.1029/2002GL015847
Proshutinsky A Y, Johnson M A. 1997. Two circulation regimes of the wind-driven Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102(C6): 12493–12514
Proshutinsky A Y, Krishfield R, Barber D. 2009. Preface to special section on Beaufort Gyre Climate System Exploration Studies: Documenting key parameters to understand environmental variability. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114: doi: 10.1029/2008JC005162
Proshutinsky A Y, Polyakov I V, Johnson M A. 1999. Climate states and variability of Arctic ice and water dynamics during 1946–1997. Polar Research, 18(2): 135–142
Rabe B, Karcher M, Schauer U, et al. 2011. An assessment of Arctic Ocean freshwater content changes from the 1990s to the 2006–2008 period. Deep-Sea Research I, 58(2): 173–185
Schlosser P, Newton R, Ekwurzel B, et al. 2002. Decrease of river runoff in the upper waters of the Eurasian Basin, Arctic Ocean, between 1991 and 1996: evidence from 18O data. Geophysical Research Letters, 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL013135
Shiklomanov A, Lammers R. 2009. Record Russian river discharge in 2007 and the limits of analysis. Environmental Research Letters, 4: doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/4/4/045015
Shimada K M, Itoh S, Nishino F, et al. 2005. Halocline structure in the Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 32: doi: 10.1029/2004GL021358
Steele M, Morison J, Ermold W, et al. 2004. Circulation of summer Pacific halocline water in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 109: doi: 10.1029/2003JC002009
Thompson D, Wallace J. 1998. The Arctic Oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields. Geophysical Research Letters, 25: 1297–1300
Walsh J E, Chapman W L, Shy T L. 1996. Recent decrease of sea level pressure in the central Arctic. Journal of Climate, 9: 480–486
Woodgate R A, Aagaard K. 2005. Revising the Bering Strait freshwater flux into the Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters, 32: doi: 10.1029/2004GL021747
Yamamoto-Kawai M, McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C, et al. 2008. Freshwater budget of the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, from salinity, 18O, and nutrients. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, 113: doi: 10.1029/2006JC003858
Yamamoto-Kawai M, McLaughlin F A, Carmack E C, et al. 2009. Surface freshening of the Canada Basin, 2003–2007: river runoff versus sea ice meltwater. Journal of Geophysical Research, 114: doi: 10.1029/2008JC005000
Yamamoto-Kawai M, Tanaka N, Pivovarov S. 2005. Freshwater and brine behaviors in the Arctic Ocean deduced from historical data of 18O and alkalinity (1929–2002AD). Journal of Geophysical Research—Oceans, 110: doi: 10.1029/2004JC002793
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation items: The Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programs under contract Nos CHINARE2014-03-04-03 and CHINARE2013-04-03-05; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 41125020; the 4th Chinese Arctic Research Program; a special scientific research project for public welfare supported by the State Oceanic Administration under contract No. 201105022-4.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pan, H., Chen, M., Tong, J. et al. Variation of freshwater components in the Canada Basin during 1967–2010. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 33, 40–45 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-014-0487-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-014-0487-5