Steady models of Arctic shelf-basin exchange
Steady models of Arctic shelf-basin exchange
Date
1998-06
Authors
Goldner, Daniel R.
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Date Created
Location
Arctic
DOI
10.1575/1912/4774
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Keywords
Oceanic mixing
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Sediments
Ocean circulation
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Sediments
Ocean circulation
Abstract
Efforts to understand the Arctic system have recently focused on the role in local
and global circulation of waters from the Arctic shelf seas. In this study, steady-state
exchanges between the Arctic shelves and the central basins are estimated
using an inverse box model. The model accounts for data uncertainty in the estimates, and quantifies the solution uncertainty. Other features include resolution of
the two-basin Arctic hydrographic structure two-way shelf-basin exchange in the
surface mixed layer, the capacity for shelfbreak upwelling, and recognition that
most inflows enter the Arctic via the shelves. Aggregate estimates of all fluxes
across the Arctic boundary, with their uncertainties, are generated from flux estimates published between 1975 and 1997. From the aggregate estimates, mass-,
heat-, and salt-conserving boundary flux estimates are derived, which imply a net
flux of water from the shelves to the basins of 1.2±0.4 Sv. Due primarily to boundary flux data uncertainty, constraints of mass, heat, and salt conservation alone
cannot determine how much shelf-basin exchange occurs via dense overflows, and
how much via the surface mixed layer. Adding δ180 constraints, however, greatly
reduces the uncertainty. Dense water flux from the shelves to the basins is necessary for maintaining steady state, but shelfbreak upwelling is not required. Proper
representation of external sources feeding the shelves, rather than the basins, is
important to obtain the full range of plausible steady solutions. Implications of
the results for the study of Arctic change are discussed.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution June 1998
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Citation
Goldner, D. R. (1998). Steady models of Arctic shelf-basin exchange [Doctoral thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]. Woods Hole Open Access Server. https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/4774