Model study of the decadal variability of the Arctic Ocean—GIN Sea system

We use a time-dependent, one-dimensional model of the Arctic Ocean and shelf that is coupled with a thermodynamic ice model and interacts with a one-dimensional model of the Greenland Sea to explore interannual variability of the Arctic Ocean - GIN Sea system. Periodical solutions obtained with seasonally varying forcing for the cyclonic (high Arctic Oscillation index) and the anticyclonic (low Arctic Oscillation index) Arctic Ocean circulation regimes reproduce major anomalies in the ocean thermohaline structure, sea ice volume, and fresh water fluxes attributed to these regimes. It is shown that the shelf plays an important role in shaping thermohaline structure of the Central Arctic Ocean, and it is the most sensitive component of the system. The correlation between the freshwater flux from the Arctic Ocean and deep convection in the Greenland Sea reproduced in the model suggests that the hypothesized freshwater storage and release mechanism may be significant for explaining Arctic Ocean decadal variability.