ARCUS | Arctic Research Consortium of the United States

6th Annual ARCUS Award for Arctic Research Excellence


Submitted by   Elena Kirillova
Authors   Elena Kirillova, O.V. Stepanov, and T. Weingartner
Category   Interdisciplinary Research
Title   Distribution and variability of nutrients in the northwestern part of the Chukchi Sea.
Affiliation   Oceanology, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

Abstract

We have archived hydrological (temperature, salinity) and hydrochemical (nutrients and oxygen) data collected from Russian observations in the northwest Chukchi Sea spanning the period from 1922 to the early 1990s. The data base permits studying the seasonal variations in the main hydrological and hydrochemical parameters of the northwestern Chukchi Sea, and Herald Valley in particular. We find a complex multilayered structure of water masses in Herald Valley, which suggests a sheared horizontal flow within the bottom layer. The data suggest southward flow (inflow onto the southern Chukchi shelf) along the west side of the valley from the Arctic Basin or outer shelf and northward flow (outflow) along the east side of the valley from the southern Chukchi Sea onto the outer shelf and into the Arctic Basin. Our analysis supports earlier hypotheses of two-way flow within Herald Valley.