Tidally modified western boundary current drives interbasin exchange between the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific.

ABSTRACT: The interbasin exchange between the Sea of Okhotsk and the North Pacific governs the intermediate water ventilation and fertilization of the nutrient-rich subpolar Pacific, and thus has an enormous influence on the North Pacific. However, the mechanism of this exchange is puzzling; current studies have not explained how the western boundary current (WBC) of the subarctic North Pacific intrudes only partially into the Sea of Okhotsk. High-resolution models often exhibit unrealistically small exchanges, as the WBC overshoots passing by deep straits and does not induce exchange flows. Therefore, partial intrusion cannot be solely explained by large-scale, wind-driven circulation. Here, we demonstrate that tidal forcing is the missing mechanism that drives the exchange by steering the WBC path

SUBMITTER: Shu HW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8187450 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature