Wind‐forcing of volume transport through Lancaster Sound

Abstract

Volume and freshwater transport through Lancaster Sound are estimated from mooring measurements collected in eastern Barrow Strait for 13 years between 1998 and 2011. Estimates from 2006 to 2011 confirm the relationship between surface wind and volume transport derived from data collected between 1998 and 2006. Volume transport through Barrow Strait along the Northwest Passage is significantly correlated with northeastward winds in the Beaufort Sea, parallel to the western coasts of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, at monthly to interannual time scales. The location and wind direction for which there is maximum correlation are consistent with the flow being driven by a sea level difference between opposite ends of the Passage, and the difference being determined by setup caused by alongshore winds in the Beaufort Sea. Monthly alongshore wind anomalies account for 43% of the variance of the transport anomalies (p < 0.01). Examination of the residuals, after subtracting the volume transport driven by the Beaufort Sea winds from the total transport, showed that they are not significantly correlated with winds in Baffin Bay (p > 0.05). The annual cycles of the total volume transport and its part attributed to the Beaufort Sea wind both have peaks in the summer and are lowest in the autumn. Correlations of the volume transport anomaly with ice velocity anomalies are lower than with surface wind anomalies.