Cold water intrusion in the eastern gulf of Alaska in 2002
- 1 June 2005
- journal article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Atmosphere-Ocean
- Vol. 43 (2) , 119-128
- https://doi.org/10.3137/ao.430201
Abstract
A patch of anomalously cold and fresh oceanic water appeared off the west coast of North America during the summer of 2002. The coldest anomaly resided 100 to 150 m below the surface, and was the coldest anomaly ever measured in summer. The motion of this water mass is tracked through the Gulf of Alaska in early 2002 and into the following year. It may have formed near the centre of the Alaskan Gyre during previous winters and advected eastward onto the continental margin. Examination of summer temperature anomalies at this range of depths in the south‐east Gulf of Alaska over the previous 35 years shows that the anomalies responded to interannual wind anomalies attributed to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). Gulf of Alaska temperatures lag these signals, offering hope that future temperature changes will be predicted.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- Recent shifts in the state of the North PacificGeophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Cold halocline, increased nutrients and higher chlorophyll off Oregon in 2002Geophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Anomalous Southward Advection During 2002 in the Northern California Current: Evidence from Lagrangian Surface DriftersGeophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Altimeter estimates of anomalous transports into the northern California Current during 2000–2002Geophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Enhanced southward flow over the Oregon shelf in 2002: A conduit for subarctic waterGeophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Large scale atmosphere‐ocean anomalies in the northeast Pacific during 2002Geophysical Research Letters, 2003
- The seasonal cycle of wind stress curl and its relationship to subsurface ocean temperature in the Northeast PacificGeophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Cold halocline in the northern California Current: An invasion of subarctic waterGeophysical Research Letters, 2003
- Analysis of deep‐drogued satellite‐tracked drifter measurements in the northeast pacificAtmosphere-Ocean, 1990
- Upper Ocean Thermal Response to Strong Autumnal Forcing of the Northeast PacificJournal of Physical Oceanography, 1986