Structure and dynamics of mesoscale eddies over the Laptev Sea continental slope in the Arctic Ocean

摘要

Heat fluxes steered by mesoscale eddies may be a significant, but still not quantified, source of heat to the surface mixed layer and sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, as well as a source of nutrients for enhancing seasonal productivity in the near-surface layers. Here we use 4 years (2007-2011) of velocity and hydrography records from a moored profiler over the Laptev Sea slope and 15 months (20082009) of acoustic Doppler current profiler data from a nearby mooring to investigate the structure and dynamics of eddies at the continental margin of the eastern Eurasian Basin. Typical eddy scales are radii of the order of 10 km, heights of 600 m, and maximum velocities of similar to 0.1 m s(-1). Eddies are approximately equally divided between cyclonic and anticyclonic polarizations, contrary to prior observations from the deep basins and along the Lomonosov Ridge. Eddies are present in the mooring records about 20 %-25 % of the time, taking about 1 week to pass through the mooring at an average frequency of about one eddy per month.