The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up
The Beaufort Gyre is a key circulation system of the Arctic Ocean and its main reservoir of freshwater. Freshwater storage and release affects Arctic sea ice cover, as well as North Atlantic and global climate. We describe a mechanism that is fundamental to the dynamics of the gyre, namely, the ice-...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125368 |
| _version_ | 1811091539784368128 |
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| author | Meneghello, Gianluca Marshall, John C Campin, Jean-Michel Doddridge, Edward W Timmermans, Mary‐Louise |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Meneghello, Gianluca Marshall, John C Campin, Jean-Michel Doddridge, Edward W Timmermans, Mary‐Louise |
| author_sort | Meneghello, Gianluca |
| collection | MIT |
| description | The Beaufort Gyre is a key circulation system of the Arctic Ocean and its main reservoir of freshwater. Freshwater storage and release affects Arctic sea ice cover, as well as North Atlantic and global climate. We describe a mechanism that is fundamental to the dynamics of the gyre, namely, the ice-ocean stress governor. Wind blows over the ice, and the ice drags the ocean. But as the gyre spins up, currents catch the ice up and turn off the surface stress. This governor sets the basic properties of the gyre, such as its depth, freshwater content, and strength. Analytical and numerical modeling is employed to contrast the equilibration processes in an ice-covered versus ice-free gyre. We argue that as the Arctic warms, reduced sea ice extent and more mobile ice will result in a deeper and faster Beaufort Gyre, accumulating more freshwater that will be released by Ekman upwelling or baroclinic instability. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:03:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/125368 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:03:58Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1253682022-09-29T12:25:02Z The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up Meneghello, Gianluca Marshall, John C Campin, Jean-Michel Doddridge, Edward W Timmermans, Mary‐Louise Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences The Beaufort Gyre is a key circulation system of the Arctic Ocean and its main reservoir of freshwater. Freshwater storage and release affects Arctic sea ice cover, as well as North Atlantic and global climate. We describe a mechanism that is fundamental to the dynamics of the gyre, namely, the ice-ocean stress governor. Wind blows over the ice, and the ice drags the ocean. But as the gyre spins up, currents catch the ice up and turn off the surface stress. This governor sets the basic properties of the gyre, such as its depth, freshwater content, and strength. Analytical and numerical modeling is employed to contrast the equilibration processes in an ice-covered versus ice-free gyre. We argue that as the Arctic warms, reduced sea ice extent and more mobile ice will result in a deeper and faster Beaufort Gyre, accumulating more freshwater that will be released by Ekman upwelling or baroclinic instability. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. NSF Polar Programs, Arctic NSF Polar Programs, Antarctic 2020-05-21T13:47:05Z 2020-05-21T13:47:05Z 2018-10 2018-08 2020-04-21T17:41:32Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1944-8007 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125368 Meneghello, Gianluca et. al., "The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up." Geophysical Research Letters 45, 20 (October 2018): 11,293-99 doi. 10.1029/2018GL080171 ©2018 Authors en 10.1029/2018GL080171 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Meneghello, Gianluca Marshall, John C Campin, Jean-Michel Doddridge, Edward W Timmermans, Mary‐Louise The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up |
| title | The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up |
| title_full | The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up |
| title_fullStr | The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up |
| title_short | The Ice‐Ocean Governor: Ice‐Ocean Stress Feedback Limits Beaufort Gyre Spin‐Up |
| title_sort | ice ocean governor ice ocean stress feedback limits beaufort gyre spin up |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125368 |
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