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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L19602, doi:10.1029/2006GL026612, 2006

Some controls on flow and salinity in Bering Strait

Knut Aagaard

Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Thomas J. Weingartner

Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Seth L. Danielson

Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Rebecca A. Woodgate

Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Gregory C. Johnson

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington, USA


Terry E. Whitledge

Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA


Abstract

During 1993–1994, steric forcing of flow through Bering Strait represented a northward sea level drop of ∼0.7 m from the Bering Sea Basin to the adjacent deep Arctic Ocean, of which ∼2/3 was due to the salinity difference between the basins. Seasonal variability of steric forcing appears small (<0.05 m), in contrast to large seasonal wind effects. Interannual changes in steric forcing may exceed 20%, however, and warm inflow from the North Atlantic, accumulation of freshwater in the southwest Canada Basin, and temperature and salinity changes in the upper Bering Sea have all contributed to recent changes. The mean salinity balance in Bering Strait is primarily maintained by large runoff to the Bering shelf, dilute coastal inflow from the Gulf of Alaska, and on-shelf movement of saline and nutrient-rich oceanic waters from the Bering Sea Basin. In Bering Strait, therefore, both the throughflow and its salinity are affected by remote events.

Received 17 April 2006; accepted 30 August 2006; published 3 October 2006.

Index Terms: 1641 Global Change: Sea level change (1222, 1225, 4556); 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography (9310, 9315); 4215 Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability (1616, 1635, 3305, 3309, 4513); 4227 Oceanography: General: Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles (0438); 4556 Oceanography: Physical: Sea level: variations and mean (1222, 1225, 1641).

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Citation: Aagaard, K., T. J. Weingartner, S. L. Danielson, R. A. Woodgate, G. C. Johnson, and T. E. Whitledge (2006), Some controls on flow and salinity in Bering Strait, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L19602, doi:10.1029/2006GL026612.