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Abstract Understanding the occurrence of the intrusion of open ocean water onto continental shelves has scientific significance and societal relevance as the intrusion can significantly disrupt the marine ecosystem and fisheries. High-resolution numerical modeling is used to investigate the spatiotemporal occurrence and mechanisms of highly anomalous bottom intrusions on the southern New England shelf. Based on multi-year numerical simulations, this study reveals a hotspot of cross-isobath bottom-intensified intrusions at a topographic trough. Examination of multiple events portrays a robust mechanism of locally enhanced bottom intrusions. Persistent upwelling-favorable winds set up an enhanced pressure gradient field at the topographic trough and drive the intrusion a large-distance onshore. Numerical experiments with and without the topographic trough show that the localized pressure gradient results from a combination of the shelf orientation and local bathymetry. Although highly anomalous waters on the shelf relate to wind forcing, correlations between the wind stress anomaly and bottom salinity anomaly at the location of the enhanced intrusion is modest, implying the need to incorporate other environmental factors to develop more deterministic prediction models for subsurface conditions on the shelf. The results have important implications for marine environment and fisheries management.
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Noble gas evidence of a millennial-scale deep North Pacific palaeo-barometric anomaly
Abstract Precise measurements of dissolved noble gases along the GP15 GEOTRACES Pacific Meridional Transect reveal the oldest northern bottom waters equilibrated with the atmosphere at a higher barometric pressure than more recent waters. Here, using a radiocarbon-calibrated multi-tracer-based diagnostic model, we reconstruct the magnitude and timing of this palaeo-barometric pressure anomaly. We hypothesize this multi-millennial trend in sea-level pressure results from local and regional processes extant in Antarctic Bottom Water formation regions.
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- PAR ID:
- 10487397
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Geoscience
- Volume:
- 17
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1752-0894
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 114-117
- Size(s):
- p. 114-117
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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