Oceanographic measurements near the Arctic ice margins

Abstract

Temperature and salinity measurements were made in and near the ice in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas with a continuously profiling instrument in August of 1971 and 1972 as part of the MIZPAC Program. Warm water of Bering Sea origin was found south of the ice in all of the area surveyed, layered sharply on top of cold water. Complex temperature and sound-velocity profiles were found near the Alaskan Coast north of the ice margin, diminishing in intensity toward the interior of the ice pack but still noticeable 30 miles inside the ice boundary. West of the coastal zone, to 167 [degrees] W, the phenomena were much milder and more quickly damped by the ice. The coastal current was observed to turn, perhaps branch, and flow along the Beaufort Sea slope, below the surface at a depth of 25-50 m, to a longitude of 152 [degrees] W. Other information indicates that it maintains its identity for at least another 100 miles eastward. (Author)