Freshwater Input and Vertical Mixing in the Canada Basin’s Seasonal Halocline: 1975 versus 2006–12

• DOI: 10.1175/jpo-d-21-0116.1
• Publication Date: 2022-03-09T18:31:36Z
• Authors: Erica Rosenblum; Julienne Stroeve; Sarah T. Gille; Camille Lique; Robert Fajber; L. Bruno Tremblay; Ryan Galley; Thiago Loureiro; David G. Barber; Jennifer V. Lukovich
• Keywords: Halocline; Stratification (seeds); Canada Basin; Mixed layer

Abstract The Arctic seasonal halocline impacts the exchange of heat, energy, and nutrients between surface deeper ocean, it is changing in response to sea ice melt over past several decades. Here, we assess formation 1975 2006–12 by comparing daily, May–September, salinity profiles collected Canada Basin under ice. We evaluate differences two time periods using a one-dimensional (1D) bulk model quantify freshwater input vertical mixing. 1D metrics indicate that separate factors contribute similarly stronger stratification relative 1975: 1) larger 2) less mixing freshwater. mainly important August–September, consistent with longer season recent years. reduced from June until mid-August, when similar levels are mixed different depth range, resulting stratification. These results imply decadal changes ice–ocean dynamics, addition input, significantly 1975. findings highlight need for near-surface process studies elucidate impact lateral processes momentum on Moreover, may provide insight improving representation upper-ocean climate models do not capture