A numerical simulation of eastern subarctic circulation in the North Pacific

The Subarctic Pacific Ocean, the terminal point of the deep thermohaline circulation, is a productive ecosystem which experiences large seasonal and interannual changes in upper ocean physics, and is considered to be very important in the global organic carbon cycle. In the present study, a primitive equation model (Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's MOM 3) with high horizontal and vertical resolution is applied to simulate the mechanism of eastern sub-arctic Pacific (including the Alaskan Stream and Alaska Coastal Current, which influence the Bering Sea). In addition, we present quantitative estimates of the subarctic Pacific ocean circulation features, which include the description of volume and heat transports. By analysis of velocity, temperature and salinity fields, we also give a brief discussion of the interaction between the eastern subarctic water and neighbour water masses in North Pacific.