‘Hydronuclear bomb’ destroys Arctic ice

A research team led by physical oceanographers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego and Bangor University scientists has shown why sea ice melts faster from below.

The Arctic ice is melting fast. Arctic – the “unusual” ocean The trial was carried out with funding from the Office of Naval Research. Scientists have described the underwater “hydrogen bomb” as one of the mechanisms that arise due to global warming. This is the factor that is changing the nature of the Arctic Ocean faster than almost anywhere else on Earth. It is also evidence that the Arctic sea ice – a source of global climate stability, can disappear more during the year. “The rate at which ice melt in the Arctic is increasing is difficult to predict with precision. This is partly due to all the complex local feedbacks between the ice, the ocean and the atmosphere. This work shows a huge role for warm water from the ocean,” said Jennifer MacKinnon, a scientist, physical oceanographer at Scripps and lead author of the study. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. Meanwhile, Dr Yueng-Djern Lenn, a physical oceanographer at Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences, said: “It has been a privilege for us to collaborate with our American colleagues. Thanks to that, we were able to make biochemical measurements in this field experiment.” According to this expert, the nutrients and isotope data they collect are extremely useful for tracing the origin of the melting ice. It also allows scientists to explore the impact of fluid dynamics on deep nutrient delivery for phytoplankton from shelf seas into the Beaufort Sea basin. The Arctic is an unusual ocean in that it is stratified into layers according to salinity rather than temperature. Most of the world’s oceans have warmer and lighter water near the surface. Meanwhile, the water will be cold, denser underneath. However, in the Arctic there is a cold and clear surface layer, influenced by currents and rapidly melting ice. Warm, relatively salty water enters from the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait and then into Barrow Canyon off the northern coast of Alaska. They act as a nozzle when water flows through a narrow passage. Because the water is saltier, it is thick enough to “submerge” or submerge below the arctic surface. This movement creates very warm standing bodies of water hidden beneath the surface of the water. The number of these warm subsurface pools of water has increased over the past decade, the scientists found. These pools of standing water known as “fusion bombs” are only stable enough to last for months or years. They lie beneath the main ice near the North Pole. These standing waters then destabilize the ice, as their heat gradually and steadily diffuses upward to melt the ice. Researchers deploy Fast CTD.u A detailed look at the process The process of warm water sinking has not yet been observed and understood. Without a clear understanding of this process, climate scientists cannot include that important impact in predictive models. The study suggests that warm water flows from the Pacific Ocean have increased over the past decade. This is seen as additional evidence that Arctic sea ice, a source of global climate stability, can disappear for a large part of the year. During a 2018 expedition funded by the US Office of Naval Research, scientists spotted one of these dramatic events for the first time. The team used a combination of new oceanographic instruments developed by the Multilayer Ocean Dynamics group at Scripps. The satellite observations were analyzed by researchers at the University of Miami. The data profile is prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Meanwhile, biological samples were collected by British and German scientists working on a project called “Changing the Arctic Ocean”. In addition, many scientists at several other institutions were responsible for detailed data analysis. “The team’s success highlights new perspectives we can see about the natural world when we see it in new ways,” said Scripps oceanographer Matthew Alford. A detailed look at the complex processes that regulate heat transport in the Arctic would not be possible without multiple sets of equipment, he said. These include remote sensing, as well as an automatic profiling machine developed at Scripps. Tools from the Scripps Multiscale Ocean Dynamics team include a customized “Fast CTD” sensor. As a result, quick configurations are created from the ship. In addition, an automatic “Wirewalker” uses energy from ocean waves to drive configuration measurements. These tools allow scientists to obtain high-resolution images of the ocean’s complex processes. From there, get a better understanding of how they work in detail. This work also highlights the importance of collaboration among many institutions, between several US funding agencies, and international partners. Collaborative work with scientists in the UK and Germany shows that warm water below the ocean’s surface also carries unique biochemical properties into the Arctic. This combination of organisms and chemicals is thought to have important implications for the changing arctic ecosystems.