Shelf-Basin Exchange across the Western Arctic Boundary Current

北冰洋的盐跃层倾向于将海洋表面的海冰与大西洋暖流带入海洋的热量隔离开来。因此，这种盐跃层结构的变化或持续性将对北极海冰覆盖的变化率产生重要影响，从而对全球气候产生重要影响。这个盐斜层是如何维持的是一个悬而未决的问题，但有一种理论强烈地暗示了来自北冰洋周围冰架的冷水的横向流动。2002-2004年，一个高分辨率的系泊阵列位于巴罗峡谷以东的波弗特海的大陆架断裂和上斜坡上。该阵列包括垂直剖面电导率/温度/深度传感器（CTD系泊剖面仪），结合声学多普勒电流剖面仪和剖面声学电流计。这些系泊点之间的间隔只有5公里，这是首次使用系泊点以罗斯比变形半径的尺度测量北极的边界流系统。该阵列在所有季节都返回了3000多个天气斜CTD剖面和18000个绝对速度剖面。为对该数据集进行分析提供了资金。主要研究人员的中心假设是，边界流系统的动力学决定了从大陆架到公海的质量和性质的转移，而这反过来又被认为维持了北极西部的上层盐斜。分析工作将集中在上升流动力学、涡流形成、二次环流和地转动力学上。

The halocline of the Arctic Ocean tends to isolate the sea ice on the surface of the ocean from the heat carried into the ocean with flows of warm Atlantic Water. Changes in the structure or persistence of this halocline will, thus, have an important influence on the rate of change of sea ice cover in the Arctic and, consequently, global climate. How this halocline is maintained is an open question, but one theory strongly implicates the lateral flux of cold waters from the shelves surrounding the Arctic Ocean.In 2002-2004 a high-resolution mooring array was situated across the shelfbreak and upper slope of the Beaufort Sea, east of Barrow Canyon. The array consisted of vertically profiling conductivity/temperature/ depth sensors (CTD Moored Profilers), combined with Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers and profiling acoustic current meters. The moorings were spaced only 5 km apart, and represent the first time that the boundary current system in the Arctic has been measured at the scale of the Rossby radius of deformation using moorings. The array returned over 3,000 synoptic cross-slope CTD sections and 18,000 absolute velocity sections, over all of the seasons. Funds are provided to carry out the analysis of this data set. The principal investigators' central hypothesis is that the dynamics of the boundary current system dictates, to first order, the transfer of mass and properties from the shelf to the open ocean, which, in turn, is thought to maintain the upper halocline of the western Arctic. The analysis effort will focus upon upwelling dynamics, eddy formation, and secondary circulation and ageostrophic dynamics.