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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Index Terms

  • Global Change: Sea level change
  • Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography
  • Oceanography: General: Climate and interannual variability
  • Oceanography: General: Diurnal, seasonal, and annual cycles
  • Oceanography: Physical: Sea level: variations and mean

Abstract

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

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.

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.

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