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Detailed Reference Information |
Pickart, R.S. (2004). Shelfbreak circulation in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea: Mean structure and variability. Journal of Geophysical Research 109: doi: 10.1029/2003JC001912. issn: 0148-0227. |
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Historical hydrographic and current meter data are used to investigate the properties and circulation at the shelf edge of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Thirty-three individual cross-sections, spanning the time period 1950 to 1987, are combined in a topographical framework to produce mean vertical hydrographic sections, as well as a section of mean absolute geostrophic velocity referenced using the current meter data. This reveals the presence of a narrow (order 20 km) eastward current, referred to as the Beaufort shelfbreak jet. The jet has three distinct seasonal configurations: In late-spring to late-summer, cold, winter-transformed Bering water is advected in a subsurface current; from mid-summer to early fall a surface intensified current advects predominantly Bering summer water; and from mid-fall to mid-spring, under easterly winds, the jet transports upwelled Atlantic water. The volume transport of the jet represents a significant fraction of the inflowing transport through Bering Strait. While the characteristics and flow of the winter-transformed Bering water vary interannually, this water mass ventilates predominantly the upper halocline. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Oceanography, Physical, Currents, Oceanography, Physical, Fronts and jets, Oceanography, Physical, Hydrography, boundary current, shelfbreak processes |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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