Structure and variability of the Barrow Canyon outflow from two high‐resolution shipboard surveys in 2018

Huang, J., Pickart, R., Foukal, N., Spall, M., & Lin, P., 2023. Structure and variability of the Barrow Canyon outflow from two high‐resolution shipboard surveys in 2018. Journal of Geophysical Research – Oceans, 128(6), e2023JC019640. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023jc019640

In 2018, two high-resolution shipboard surveys of the canyon were carried out—one in summer and one in fall—to investigate the water mass distribution and velocity structure of the outflow. During the summer survey (HLY1801, left panels), high percentages of Pacific water (summer water + winter water) were present seaward of the canyon, associated with strong northward outflow from the canyon and a well-developed westward-flowing Chukchi Slope Current (CSC). By contrast, high percentages of Pacific water were confined to the canyon proper and outer Chukchi shelf during the late-fall survey (HLY1803, right panels), at which time the canyon outflow and CSC were considerably weaker. These differences can be attributed to differences in wind forcing during the time period of two surveys. One of the major findings of our study was the identification of a cyclone-like circulation just seaward of Barrow Canyon, which was present during both surveys and shown to be a prevailing aspect of the canyon outflow. It was argued that this feature corresponds to an arrested topographic Rossby wave, generated as the outflow responds to the deepening bathymetry of the canyon. (Summary and image provided by Jie Huang)