Image

More Than a Little Bit

October 11, 2016

Like surgeons laying out scalpels, researchers prepare the bits they will use to drill holes through meters-thick sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The holes provide access for instruments to collect measurements in ocean water below the ice. Since 2005, WHOI has led the Beaufort Gyre Freshwater Experiment to study a vast swirling wind-driven current system in the western Arctic Ocean. The gyre is often called the “flywheel of the Arctic” because it regulates winds, sea ice, ocean currents, and climate in the region. New results of the longterm study showed signs of big changes in the Beaufort Gyre that could have important ramifications for the circulation, biology, and climate of the Arctic and beyond. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)