The inter-annual variability in the volume transport through Bering Strait and its related factors

ZHANG Yang; SU Jie

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ZHANG Yang, SU Jie. The inter-annual variability in the volume transport through Bering Strait and its related factors[J]. Haiyang Xuebao, 2012, 34(5): 1-10.

Citation:

ZHANG Yang, SU Jie. The inter-annual variability in the volume transport through Bering Strait and its related factors[J]. Haiyang Xuebao, 2012, 34(5): 1-10.

ZHANG Yang, SU Jie. The inter-annual variability in the volume transport through Bering Strait and its related factors[J]. Haiyang Xuebao, 2012, 34(5): 1-10.

Citation:

ZHANG Yang, SU Jie. The inter-annual variability in the volume transport through Bering Strait and its related factors[J]. Haiyang Xuebao, 2012, 34(5): 1-10.

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The inter-annual variability in the volume transport through Bering Strait and its related factors

ZHANG Yang,
SU Jie

Key Lab of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China

Received Date: 2011-11-09
Rev Recd Date: 2012-02-20

Abstract

Abstract

Bering Strait is the only channel connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean.The Pacific water through the strait is mainly driven by the meridional sea level slop and its inter-annual variation has great influence on the Arctic Ocean. In this study SODA data is applied to the calculation of the monthly mean volume transport through Bering Strait. The factors related to the inter-annual variability of summer volume transport are discussed.The results show that the SSH in the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea, the Chukchi Sea, south of the Beaufort Sea is negatively correlated to the volume transport of Bering Strait in inter-annual scale while the situation is opposite in the eastern shelf of Bering Sea.After analyzing the correlation of the volume flux with the Ekman transport, pumping rate, upper layer salinity, temperature and density, the paper find that the Ekman transport anomaly should be responsible for the relationship between the sea surface height and the volume flux of Bering Strait. When the SLP is positive anomaly over central part of the Arctic Ocean and negative anomaly over Bering Sea basin, the volume transport through Bering Strait will be enlarged. Such SLP anomaly would explain the relationship between the Bering Strait volume transport and the Ekman transport, pumping rate and upper layer water properties to some extend. The paper reveals that the summer SLP’s inter-annual variation can change SSH via Ekman transport and finally dominant the volume transport through Bering Strait.
- Bering Strait,
- volume transport,
- inter-annual variation,
- Ekman transport

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References(16)

References

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