Distribution and formation of the mesothermal structure (temperature inversions) in the North Pacific subarctic region

Abstract

The distribution and formation of mesothermal structure (temperature inversions) in the North Pacific subarctic region are investigated through analysis of climatological hydrographic data. It is suggested that the heat and salt that maintain the mesothermal water and thus the halocline in the density range of 26.7–27.2σθ are transported as a crossgyre flow from the transition domain just east of Japan, where the waters are influenced by the subtropical gyre water mass, to the eastern subarctic region. Along the transport route the isopycnal potential temperature and thus salinity are well conserved. In the western subarctic gyre, the Bering Sea, and the northern Gulf of Alaska, the temperature reaches its minimum at the surface in winter and the areal coverage agrees well with the distribution of the mesothermal structure. In the southeastern part of the zonally distributed mesothermal structure in the area of 170°E–150°W and 45°–50°N, where the winter sea surface temperature is higher than that in the deeper layer, dichothermal water is formed by subsurface intrusion of the low‐temperature and low‐salinity water that outcropped in the previous winter over the warm and saline water transported from the transition domain.