Dichothermal layer deepening in relation with halocline depth change associated with northward shrinkage of North Pacific western subarctic gyre in early 2000s

Abstract

In the western subarctic North Pacific, a wind-driven cyclonic circulation, called the western subarctic gyre (WSAG), exists. We examined year-to-year changes of the gyre and hydrographic structures, applying the altimetry-based gravest empirical mode (AGEM) method to hydrographic and altimetric sea surface height (SSH) data, and relation to the in situ variation of the temperature minimum layer, i.e., the dichothermal layer, depth at station K2 (47∘ N, 160∘ E). The AGEM-based geostrophic volume transport and the streamfunction of the WSAG in the top 1000-dbar layer show that the gyre changes substantially. From the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, the gyre shrunk northward. Due to the shrinkage, the halocline bottom, which is equivalent to the top of the main pycnocline, deepens at K2 outside the central part of the gyre. The downward displacement of the dichothermal layer at K2 was found to be significantly related to that of the underlying halocline due to the northward shrinkage of the WSAG.