Whither the Chukchi Slope Current?
Recent measurements and modeling indicate that roughly half of the Pacific-origin water exiting the Chukchi Sea shelf through Barrow Canyon forms a westward-flowing current known as the Chukchi Slope Current (CSC), yet the trajectory and fate of this current is presently unknown. In this study, thro...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Meteorological Society
2020
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126617 |
| _version_ | 1811080778538287104 |
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| author | Boury, Samuel Pickart, Robert S. Odier, Philippe Lin, Peigen Li, Min Fine, Elizabeth C. Simmons, Harper L. MacKinnon, Jennifer A. Peacock, Thomas |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Boury, Samuel Pickart, Robert S. Odier, Philippe Lin, Peigen Li, Min Fine, Elizabeth C. Simmons, Harper L. MacKinnon, Jennifer A. Peacock, Thomas |
| author_sort | Boury, Samuel |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Recent measurements and modeling indicate that roughly half of the Pacific-origin water exiting the Chukchi Sea shelf through Barrow Canyon forms a westward-flowing current known as the Chukchi Slope Current (CSC), yet the trajectory and fate of this current is presently unknown. In this study, through the combined use of shipboard velocity data and information from five profiling floats deployed as quasi-Lagrangian particles, we delve further into the trajectory and the fate of the CSC. During the period of observation, from early September to early October 2018, the CSC progressed far to the north into the Chukchi Borderland. The northward excursion is believed to result from the current negotiating Hanna Canyon on the Chukchi slope, consistent with potential vorticity dynamics. The volume transport of the CSC, calculated using a set of shipboard transects, decreased from approximately 2 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s-1 ) to near zero over a period of 4 days. This variation can be explained by a concomitant change in the wind stress curl over the Chukchi shelf from positive to negative. After turning northward, the CSC was disrupted and four of the five floats veered offshore, with one of the floats permanently leaving the current. It is hypothesized that the observed disruption was due to an anticyclonic eddy interacting with the CSC, which has been observed previously. These results demonstrate that, at times, the CSC can get entrained into the Beaufort Gyre. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:36:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/126617 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:36:42Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1266172022-09-27T20:42:02Z Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? Boury, Samuel Pickart, Robert S. Odier, Philippe Lin, Peigen Li, Min Fine, Elizabeth C. Simmons, Harper L. MacKinnon, Jennifer A. Peacock, Thomas Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Recent measurements and modeling indicate that roughly half of the Pacific-origin water exiting the Chukchi Sea shelf through Barrow Canyon forms a westward-flowing current known as the Chukchi Slope Current (CSC), yet the trajectory and fate of this current is presently unknown. In this study, through the combined use of shipboard velocity data and information from five profiling floats deployed as quasi-Lagrangian particles, we delve further into the trajectory and the fate of the CSC. During the period of observation, from early September to early October 2018, the CSC progressed far to the north into the Chukchi Borderland. The northward excursion is believed to result from the current negotiating Hanna Canyon on the Chukchi slope, consistent with potential vorticity dynamics. The volume transport of the CSC, calculated using a set of shipboard transects, decreased from approximately 2 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s-1 ) to near zero over a period of 4 days. This variation can be explained by a concomitant change in the wind stress curl over the Chukchi shelf from positive to negative. After turning northward, the CSC was disrupted and four of the five floats veered offshore, with one of the floats permanently leaving the current. It is hypothesized that the observed disruption was due to an anticyclonic eddy interacting with the CSC, which has been observed previously. These results demonstrate that, at times, the CSC can get entrained into the Beaufort Gyre. ONR (Grant N000141612450) 2020-08-17T15:25:42Z 2020-08-17T15:25:42Z 2020-06 2019-11 2020-07-31T15:41:43Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0022-3670 1520-0485 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126617 Boury, Samuel et al. "Whither the Chukchi Slope Current?." Journal of Physical Oceanography 50, 6 (June 2020): 1717–1732 © 2020 American Meteorological Society en http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-19-0273.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 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 Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | Boury, Samuel Pickart, Robert S. Odier, Philippe Lin, Peigen Li, Min Fine, Elizabeth C. Simmons, Harper L. MacKinnon, Jennifer A. Peacock, Thomas Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? |
| title | Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? |
| title_full | Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? |
| title_fullStr | Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? |
| title_short | Whither the Chukchi Slope Current? |
| title_sort | whither the chukchi slope current |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/126617 |
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