Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Department

Marine Science

First Advisor

Alexander Yankovsky

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean is unique among the world’s oceans, characterized by its cold temperatures, salinity-driven vertical structure, and shallow shelf seas. It has warmed intensely since the 1980s at rates exceeding the global average. This Arctic Amplification drives variability in sea ice and salinity, affecting local circulation and exchange with other basins, leading to global changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation and the biosphere. This thesis explores changing dynamics in the Arctic Ocean, in particular connecting modeled changes in liquid freshwater content (FWC) and its pathways with major ocean circulation patterns, atmospheric drivers, and large-scale climatic changes.

This research combines satellite salinity and altimetry with ocean models and reanalysis products to investigate Arctic Ocean dynamics in the Beaufort Gyre (BG) specifically, and the Arctic Ocean in general. Models are heavily used in the Arctic Ocean due to the scarcity of in-situ observations, but their results vary greatly. Therefore, identifying areas of model consensus or divergence is crucial to using their output more effectively. This work expands on the development in understanding of major circulation and ocean models in the Arctic Ocean and improves our understanding of the changing interactions between the ocean, ice, and atmosphere in the Arctic Ocean. This work could be furthered by comparing exchange between the basins and continental shelf regions, as well as export from the Arctic region, as changes in these are driven by similar forcings as the BG.

Rights

© 2024, Emma Louise Hoffman

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