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| Titel |
An assessment of Arctic Ocean freshwater content changes from the 1990s to the 2006 - 2008 period and beyond |
| VerfasserIn |
Benjamin Rabe, Michael Karcher, Ursula Schauer, John M. Toole, Richard A. Krishfield, Sergey Pisarev, Frank Kauker, Rüdiger Gerdes, Takashi Kikuchi |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2011
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 13 (2011) |
| Datensatznummer |
250052251
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Unprecedented summer-season sampling of the Arctic Ocean during the period 2006 - 2008
makes possible a quasi-synoptic estimate of liquid freshwater (LFW) inventories in the Arctic
Ocean basins. In comparison to observations from 1992 - 1999, LFW content relative to a
salinity of 35 in the layer from the surface to the 34 isohaline increased by 6000 to
10000 km3 in the Arctic Ocean (water depth greater than 500 m). This is close to the
annual export of freshwater (liquid and solid) from the Arctic Ocean reported in the
literature.
Observations and a model simulation show regional variations in LFW were both due to
changes in the depth of the lower halocline, often forced by regional wind-induced Ekman
pumping, and a mean freshening of the water column above this depth, associated with an
increased net sea ice melt and advection of increased amounts of river water from the
Siberian shelves. Over the whole Arctic Ocean, changes in the observed mean salinity above
the 34 isohaline dominated estimated changes in LFW content. Observations from
2009 - 2010 suggest that LFW content is at similar or higher levels relative to 2006 - 2008. |
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