Abstract
<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> Under the background of wind forcing change along with Arctic sea ice retreat, the mesoscale processes undergoing distinct variation in Beaufort Gyre (BG) region are more and more significant to oceanic transport and energic cascade, and then these changes put oceanic stratification into a new state. Here the varying eddies and eddy kinetic energy (EKE) in the central Canada Basin (CB) and Chukchi–Beaufort continental slope are obtained based on mooring observations (2003–2018), altimetry measurements (1993–2019) and reanalysis data (1980–2021). In this paper, the variability of halocline in BG representing adjustment of stratification in the upper layer is shown so as to analyze how it occurs under significantly changing mesoscale processes. We find that the halocline depth has deepened by ~40 m while that in the north has deepened by ~70 m in the in the last nearly two decades by multiple data sets. The halocline depth lifting to the north initially was shifted to a final nearly symmetric structure. Eddy strength and Eddy induced low salinity water transportations have been continuously increasing toward the central basin at the mean time the halocline depth and strength among the southern and northern parts in the basin have reached a nearly identical and stable regime. It is clearly clarified that the long-term dynamical eddy modulation through eddy fluxes facilitating the freshwater redistribution inhibited the meridional asymmetry of halocline of the BG. Further research into high-resolution observations and data simulations can helps us to better understand the eddy modulation processes and its influence on large-scale circulation.
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