Arctic | Climate and Oceanography
2023 Updates from the CEO Presenter: Seth Danielson , sldanielson@alaska.edu, University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
Silvana Gonzalez , University of Alaska Fairbanks Claudine Hauri , University of Alaska Fairbanks John Horne , College of the Environment, University of Washington
Katrin Iken , University of Alaska Fairbanks Catherine Lalande , Korea Polar Institute Andy Mahoney , University of Alaska Fairbanks Savannah Sandy , University of Alaska Fairbanks Kate Stafford , Oregon State University
With particular focus on autumn freeze-up and winter maintenance of sea ice, this presentation reviews aspects of the Bering-Chukchi continental shelf thermal conditions in recent years and then examines the importance of oceanic heat content and advection to the seasonal sea ice cover of the Pacific Arctic. Oceanographic mooring data from past decades provide a baseline for understanding conditions prior to the large sea-ice losses of the 2010’s. Mooring data from recent years provides supporting evidence for the role that oceanic heat played in contributing to the Northern Bering reduced-sea-ice-cover of recent years, when advection during winter months provided a nearly continuous supply of heat to the Bering Strait region. Farther north, data from the Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (CEO) mooring cluster near Hanna Shoal on the NE Chukchi continental shelf show thermal conditions that similarly reflect the oceanic influence on freeze-up in this region. Numerical model integrations help us trace the source of the heat, provide some hints to marine conditions of coming decades, and allow us to consider ecological impacts of a thermally changing Arctic marine environment.
Alaska Marine Science Symposium 2023 126
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