Changes in ocean circulation and dissolved oxygen/nutrient distributions in the Canadian Basin

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean is facing dramatic environmental and ecosystem changes. To obtain the current baseline data, a coordinated multiship and multination pan-Arctic ship-based sampling campaign was implemented for the period between 2020 and 2022 under the project of Synoptic Arctic Survey (SAS). During the 2020 survey, unusually low dissolved oxygen and acidified water (salinity = 34.5) were found in a high-seas fishable area of the western (Pacific-side) Arctic Ocean. The data showed that the Beaufort Gyre (BG) shrunk to the east of the Chukchi Plateau (CP) and formed a front between the water within the gyre and the water from the eastern (Atlantic-side) Arctic. That phenomenon triggered a frontal northward flow along the CP. This flow likely transported the low oxygen and acidified water toward the high-seas fishable area; similar biogeochemical properties had previously been observed only on the shelf-slope north of the East Siberian Sea (ESS). Northward flows were also predominant west of the CP associated with the penetration of the water from the eastern Arctic. The northward flows would transport nutrient-rich shelf water (salinity = 32.5) from the ESS to the southwestern Canadian Basin (CB). Furthermore, the northeastward flow of the shrunk BG during the SAS period (2020-2022) could spread the nutrient-rich ESS shelf water to the northeastern CB. As a result, the nutrient concentration there during the SAS period was higher than the period when the BG enlarged to the west of CP, because the westward flow of the BG that overshot the CP inhibited the northward transport of the nutrient-rich ESS shelf water toward the southwestern CB. As a future study, we would like to combine the data from the Atlantic gateway because the ocean circulation and dissolved oxygen/nutrient distributions in the CB are largely influenced by the penetration of the water from the eastern Arctic. This is a reason why we have applied to present in this session.