Variability of the Bering Sea circulation in the period 1992–2010

Autor: Takashi Kukuchi, Vladimir Luchin, Gleb Panteleev, Dmitri A. Nechaev, Max Yaremchuk
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Oceanography. 68:485-496
ISSN: 1573-868X
0916-8370
DOI: 10.1007/s10872-012-0113-0
Popis: Sea surface height anomalies observed by sat- ellites in 1992-2010 are combined with monthly climatol- ogies of temperature and salinity to estimate circulation in the southern Bering Sea. The estimated surface and deep currents are consistent with independent velocity observa- tions by surface drifters and Argo floats parked at 1,000 m. Analysis reveals 1-3-Sv interannual transport variations of the major currents with typical intra-annual variability of 3-7 Sv. On the seasonal scale, the Alaskan Stream transport is well correlated with the Kamchatka (0.81), Near Strait (0.53) and the Bering Slope (0.37) currents. Lagged corre- lations reveal a gradual increase of the time the lags between the transports of the Alaskan Stream, the Bering Slope Current and the Kamchatka Current, supporting the concept that the Bering Sea basin is ventilated by the waters carried by the Alaskan Stream south of the Aleutian Arc and by the flow through the Near Strait. Correlations of the Bering Sea currents with the Bering Strait transport are dominated by the seasonal cycle. On the interannual time scale, significant negative correlations are diagnosed between the Near Strait transport and the Bering Slope and Alaskan Stream currents. Substantial correlations are also diagnosed between the eddy kinetic energy and Pacific Decadal Oscillation.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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