I have a question that's been interesting me for a while. The how are the water currents up north? Wouldn't they get stronger and swifter as you got closer to the basin? Or does the amount of water cause it to be slow due to pressure?
Susan_Schonberg
Joined: 20 Apr 2004
Posts: 7
Posted:
Tue Jun 01, 2004 1:32 am
Water movement is extremely dynamic at the slope where the Chukchi continental shelf drops down to the Arctic basin. The gyre over the Arctic basin always swirls from east to west. Meanwhile, water pouring northward through Bering Straits bifurcates when it gets to the continental shelf slope with some moving east towards Russia and some going west along the Alaskan coast. This is called a boundary current. Water moves in different directions at different depths along the slope where these currents all meet. There is an interesting bottom feature located just west of Barrow called Barrow Canyon. It is an underwater canyon that jetstreams water at high speeds northward off the continental shelf with some moving eastward along the north slope of Alaska and some flowing into the Arctic basin.
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