Russian River and Arctic Freshening

Russian River Unexpected Culprit Behind Arctic Freshening

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University of Washington

Red arrows show the new path of Russian river water into the Canada Basin. The previous freshwater pathway – across the Eurasian Basin toward Greenland and the Atlantic – was altered by atmospheric conditions created by the Arctic Oscillation.

C. Peralta-Ferriz/UW Applied Physics Laboratory

An instrument about to be dropped through an opening in the ice to the seafloor will record ocean bottom pressure to compare with similar data recorded by NASA’s GRACE satellites.

by: Sandra Hines and Alan Buis

Frigid freshwater flowing into the Arctic Ocean from three of Russia's mighty rivers was diverted hundreds of miles to a completely different part of the ocean in response to a decades-long shift in atmospheric pressure associated with the phenomenon called the Arctic Oscillation, according to findings published in the Jan. 5 issue of Nature

“Knowing the pathways of freshwater in the upper ocean is important to understanding global climate because of freshwater’s role in protecting sea ice – it can help create a barrier between the ice and warmer ocean water below – and its role in global ocean circulation. Too much freshwater exiting the Arctic would inhibit the interplay of cold water from the poles and warm water from the tropics,” said Jamie Morison, an oceanographer with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and lead author of the Nature paper.

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University of Washington

Red arrows show the new path of Russian river water into the Canada Basin. The previous freshwater pathway – across the Eurasian Basin toward Greenland and the Atlantic – was altered by atmospheric conditions created by the Arctic Oscillation.

C. Peralta-Ferriz/UW Applied Physics Laboratory

An instrument about to be dropped through an opening in the ice to the seafloor will record ocean bottom pressure to compare with similar data recorded by NASA’s GRACE satellites.