Collaborative Research: Circulation in the Freshwater Switchyard of the Arctic Ocean

拟议的研究将记录北冰洋淡水转换站上层海洋的环流、变化和驱动机制。这个未开发的地区位于加拿大群岛东部和格陵兰岛的北部，延伸约500 - 800公里进入北冰洋中部。它位于弗拉姆和纳雷斯海峡淡水出口点的上游，即，在那里，来自不同来源的淡水最终被输送到通往北大西洋的一些主要通道。主要的假设是，这一地区是北极和北大西洋之间淡水转移的一个分叉点，这一地区总体环流的微小变化可能会对下游产生巨大影响。这项研究将测量海洋温度、盐度、海流和地球化学淡水示踪剂，如氧、氧同位素、氚/3He、CFC. s、钡和营养物质。重点将放在淡水所在的海洋上层（0 - 300米）。这将是一个基于飞机的行动，因为厚厚的海冰阻止大多数水面舰艇进入，政治现实阻止潜艇进入。 还将对开关站区域的海冰运动和厚度进行卫星研究，以确定有多少冰在博福特环流内向西再循环，有多少冰通过弗拉姆海峡流出，以及有多少冰在加拿大群岛的各个通道内流出。 这项研究的结果将通过一个与其他类似正在进行的项目链接的互联网网站以及科学和流行格式的演示和文章提供。 此外，他们将用于教育目的，通过参与研究生和本科生，并在课程材料。 通过将我们的数据纳入网格化海洋数据库以及原始验证数据，计划建立与数值模拟研究的特殊链接。在过去几年中，作为各种项目的一部分，特别是北极环境观测站-一个在阿勒特/尤里卡之外开展的飞机项目-在国家科学基金会发展了适当的后勤基础设施。

The proposed research will document the circulation, variability, and driving mechanisms of the upper ocean in the freshwater switchyard of the Arctic Ocean. This unexplored region lies to the north of the eastern Canadian Archipelago and Greenland, extending about 500-800 km into the central Arctic Ocean. It lies just upstream of the freshwater exit points in Fram and Nares Straits, i.e., where freshwater from various sources is finally delivered to some of the main channels that lead to the North Atlantic Ocean. The main hypothesis is that this area is a bifurcation point for freshwater transfer between the Arctic and North Atlantic Oceans, and that small changes in the overall circulation of this region may have large downstream effects. This study will measure ocean temperature, salinity, currents, and geochemical freshwater tracers such as oxygen, oxygen isotopes, tritium/3He, CFC.s, barium, and nutrients. The focus will be on the upper ocean (0-300 m) where freshwater resides. This will be an aircraft-based operation, because thick sea ice prevents access by most surface ships and political realities prevent access by submarine. There will also be a satellite-based study of sea ice motion and thickness in the switchyard region which will determine how much ice recirculates westward within the Beaufort Gyre, how much exits through Fram Strait, and how much exits within the various passages of the Canadian Archipelago. Results from this study will be made available via an internet web site that will be linked to other similar ongoing projects, as well as through presentations and articles in both scientific and popular formats. Additionally, they will be used for educational purposes through involvement of both graduate and undergraduate students, and in course material. A special link to numerical modeling studies is planned via incorporation of our data into a gridded ocean database as well as raw validation data. The appropriate logistics infrastructure at NSF has been developed over the past several years as part of various projects, in particular the North Pole Environmental Observatory, an aircraft-based project staged out of Alert/Eureka.