Interaction of Dense Shelf Waters of the Barents and Kara Seas with the Eddy Structures

Abstract

Purpose. Considered are the processes of dense bottom water formation in winter in the region of the Novaya Zemlya northwestern coast, its further propagation (cascading) towards the St. Anna trough and then to the open ocean. The goal of the paper is to show that the process of such propagation is closely related to generation of the mesoscale eddies.

Methods and Results. The data of available measurements indicate only some residual forms of such a movement, since they cover mainly a summer season. Numerical study was carried out using the system of the nested models SibCIOM and SibPOM. In course of the numerical experiments it became possible to show the system capability in describing the water bottom structure and to reproduce the process of bottom water propagation in details. Analysis of the above-mentioned process has revealed energy conversion of the available potential energy of a regular motion into the potential energy of eddy formations. The eddy structures’ ageostrophicity, in its turn, contributes to the accelerated advancement of dense shelf waters downard along the sloping bottom.

Conclusions. One of the important features of cascading is that at the initial stage, it is accompanied by active generation of the mesoscale eddy structures. Both processes interact energetically and contribute to increase of heat and mass exchange between the shelf and the open ocean. Proper description of this exchange is a prerequisite for successful modeling of the intermediate and deep water thermodynamics in the Arctic Ocean.

Keywords

Arctic Ocean, Kara Sea, formation of water masses, cascading, mesoscale eddy.

Acknowledgements

The work was carried out at support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant No 17-05-00382, and using resources of the Center for Collective Use “Siberian Supercomputer Center” ICMMG SB RAS.

Original Russian Text © G.A. Platov, E.N. Golubeva, 2019,
published in MORSKOY GIDROFIZICHESKIY ZHURNAL, Vol. 35, Iss. 6, pp. 549–571 (2019)

For citation

Platov, G.A. and Golubeva, E.N., 2019. Interaction of Dense Shelf Waters of the Barents and Kara Seas with the Eddy Structures. Physical Oceanography, [e-journal] 26(6), pp. 484-503. doi:10.22449/1573-160X-2019-6-484-503

DOI

10.22449/1573-160X-2019-6-484-503

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