Reference
- Arctic OceanOcean N of the Arctic Circle, between North America and Eurasia. Almost totally landlocked and the Earth's smallest ocean, it is bordered by Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Norway. Connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Bering Strait, and to the Atlantic Ocean by the Davis Strait and Greenland Sea, it includes the Barents, Beaufort, Chukchi, Greenland, and Norwegian seas. There is animal life (plankton) in all Arctic water. Polar bears, seals, and gulls live up to c.88° N. Area: 14 million sq km (5.4 million sq mi).
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Credo Reference is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Perspectives
Arctic Ocean Sediments: Processes, Proxies, and Paleoenvironment: Processes, Proxies, and Paleoenvironment
Although it is generally accepted that the Arctic Ocean is a very sensitive and important region for changes in the global climate, this region is the last major physiographic province of the earth whose short-and long-term geological history is much less known in comparison to other ocean regions. This lack of knowledge is mainly caused by the major technological/logistic problems in reaching this harsh, ice-covered region with normal research vessels and in retrieving long and undisturbed sediment cores. During the the last about 20 years, however, several international and multidisciplinary ship expeditions, including the first scientific drilling on Lomonosov Ridge in 2004, a break-through in Arctic research, were carried out into the central Artic and its surrounding shelf seas. Results from these expeditions have greatly advanced our knowledge on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironments. Published syntheses about the knowledge on Arctic Ocean geology, on the other hand, are based on data available prior to 1990. A comprehensive compilation of data on Arctic Ocean paleoenvironment and its short-and long-term variability based on the huge amount of new data including the ACEX drilling data, has not been available yet. With this book, presenting (1) detailed information on glacio-marine sedimentary processes and geological proxies used for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and (2) detailed geological data on modern environments, Quaternary variability on different time scales as well as the long-term climate history during Mesozoic-Tertiary times, this gap in knowledge will be filled. *Aimed at specialists and graduates *Presents background research, recent developments, and future trends *Written by a leading scholar and industry expert
The Freshwater Budget of the Arctic Ocean
Following a decision by the Arctic Ocean Sciences Board (AOSB) in July 1996 the then chainnan, Geoffrey Holland, wrote a letter of invitation to a meeting to plan a "Symposium on the Freshwater Balance of the Arctic". The meeting was held in Ottawa on November 12-13 1996 and was attended by representatives of various organisations, including the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as individual scientists. Results of this meeting included: * Co-sponsorship with AOSB by the Scientific Committee on Ocean Research (SCOR), the Arctic Climate System Study (ACSYS) and the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX). * A decision to apply for funding as a Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Scientific Affairs Division. * That expenses would be covered in part by funds available through an existing NSF grant to the SCOR Executive offices in Baltimore, MD. * The appointment of myself to be Chairman/Manager for the Symposium. * Provision of a recommended list of Scientific Advisors to assist the Chainnan in selecting key speakers.
Sedimentation History in the Arctic Ocean and Subarctic Seas for the Last 130 Kyr
The book reflects the results of the study of sedimentation history, paleoclimatology, and paleoceanography of the Arctic and Subarctic during the last 130 ka. The main objects under consideration are marine basins of the West Subarctic (Iceland, Norwegian, and Greenland Seas), the Arctic Ocean (Barents, Pechora, Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi Seas and deep-sea Arctic Ocean proper), East Subarctic (Bering and Okhotsk Seas). The modern environment and geological history of water- (ice-) sheds and marine basins have been studied for each region, using different sedimentological and geochemical proxies. Mainly results of the authors' own studies are represented, with special emphasis on glacial/interglacial variability and land-ocean interaction. The book is aimed at sedimentologists, quaternary and marine geologists, paleoclimatologists and paleoceanographers, as well as being of great interest to students in the related fields.
Frozen Planet: On Thin Ice
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David Attenborough journeys to both polar regions to investigate what rising temperatures will mean for the people and wildlife that live there and for the rest of the planet. Sir David starts out at the North Pole, standing on sea ice several metres thick, but which scientists predict could be open-ocean within the next few decades. The Arctic has been warming at twice the global average so Sir David heads out with a Norwegian team to see what this means for polar bears. He comes face to face with a tranquilised female and discovers that mothers and cubs are going hungry as the sea ice on which they hunt disappears. In Canada, Inuit hunters have seen with their own eyes what scientists have seen from space - the Arctic Ocean has lost 30% of its summer ice cover over the last 30 years.
A Changing World: Arctic Meltdown
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowAccording to some forecasts, the Arctic Ocean will be seasonally ice-free by the summer of 2013—a nightmare that is driving environmentalists to find ways to minimize the damage. But for energy prospectors, climate change brings new opportunities as more and more deposits of oil, gas, and minerals become accessible. This program focuses on competing interests racing to control Arctic resources and territories. Dr. Ruth Jackson, from Nova Scotia’s Bedford Institute of Oceanography, heads the team mapping the seabed in support of Canada’s claims. As the work of Dr. Jackson and other researchers shows, scientists as well as nations must contend with the Arctic’s icy politics. In one scene, a Canadian-led venture is thwarted when a deal to hire a Russian icebreaker falls through. A part of the series Arctic Meltdown.
Arctic Circle
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowWhat occurs in the Arctic dramatically alters the rest of the planet. Sea ice reduction can change the weather system. The Arctic Ocean becomes just water in the summer; the jet stream is weakening and extreme weather conditions are occurring.
Online Resources
- Arctic Ocean surface geostrophic circulation 2003–2014Monitoring the surface circulation of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean is generally limited in space, time or both. We present a new 12-year record of geostrophic currents at monthly resolution in the ice-covered and ice-free Arctic Ocean derived from satellite radar altimetry and characterise their seasonal to decadal variability from 2003 to 2014, a period of rapid environmental change in the Arctic. Geostrophic currents around the Arctic basin increased in the late 2000s, with the largest increases observed in summer. Currents in the southeastern Beaufort Gyre accelerated in late 2007 with higher current speeds sustained until 2011, after which they decreased to speeds representative of the period 2003–2006. The strength of the northwestward current in the southwest Beaufort Gyre more than doubled between 2003 and 2014. This pattern of changing currents is linked to shifting of the gyre circulation to the northwest during the time period. The Beaufort Gyre circulation and Fram Strait current are strongest in winter, modulated by the seasonal strength of the atmospheric circulation. We find high eddy kinetic energy (EKE) congruent with features of the seafloor bathymetry that are greater in winter than summer, and estimates of EKE and eddy diffusivity in the Beaufort Sea are consistent with those predicted from theoretical considerations. The variability of Arctic Ocean geostrophic circulation highlights the interplay between seasonally variable atmospheric forcing and ice conditions, on a backdrop of long-term changes to the Arctic sea ice–ocean system. Studies point to various mechanisms influencing the observed increase in Arctic Ocean surface stress, and hence geostrophic currents, in the 2000s – e.g. decreased ice concentration/thickness, changing atmospheric forcing, changing ice pack morphology; however, more work is needed to refine the representation of atmosphere–ice–ocean coupling in models before we can fully attribute causality to these increases.
- Arctic Ocean circulation and variability – advection and external forcing encounter constraints and local processesThe first hydrographic data from the Arctic Ocean, the section from the Laptev Sea to the passage between Greenland and Svalbard obtained by Nansen on his drift with Fram 1893–1896, aptly illustrate the main features of Arctic Ocean oceanography and indicate possible processes active in transforming the water masses in the Arctic Ocean. Many, perhaps most, processes were identified already by Nansen, who put his mark on almost all subsequent research in the Arctic. Here we shall revisit some key questions and follow how our understanding has evolved from the early 20th century to present. What questions, if any, can now be regarded as solved and which remain still open? Five different but connected topics will be discussed: (1) The low salinity surface layer and the storage and export of freshwater. (2) The vertical heat transfer from the Atlantic water to sea ice and to the atmosphere. (3) The circulation and mixing of the two Atlantic inflow branches. (4) The formation and circulation of deep and bottom waters in the Arctic Ocean. (5) The exchanges through Fram Strait. Foci will be on the potential effects of increased freshwater input and reduced sea ice export on the freshwater storage and residence time in the Arctic Ocean, on the deep waters of the Makarov Basin, and on the circulation and relative importance of the two inflows, over the Barents Sea and through Fram Strait, for the distribution of heat in the intermediate layers of the Arctic Ocean.
Arctic Exploration
- Films on Demand This link opens in a new windowWhile Antarctica lies on mountainous bedrock, the Arctic is a treacherous ocean of floating sea ice. For hundreds of years sailors searched for a trade route through these waters--the elusive Northwest Passage. We'll learn the story of one expedition.