Greater Role of Geostrophic Currents in Ekman Dynamics in the Western Arctic Ocean as a Mechanism for Beaufort Gyre Stabilization

Seven different methods, with and without including geostrophic currents, were used to explore Ekman dynamics in the western Arctic Ocean for the period 1992–2014. Results show that surface geostrophic currents have been increasing and are much stronger than Ekman layer velocities in recent years (2003–2014) when the oceanic Beaufort Gyre (BG) is spinning up in the region. The new methods that include geostrophic currents result in more realistic Ekman pumping velocities than a previous iterative method that does not consider geostrophic currents and therefore overestimates Ekman pumping velocities by up to 52% in the central area of the BG over the period 2003–2014. When the BG is spinning up as seen in recent years, geostrophic currents become stronger, which tend to modify the ice‐ocean stress and moderate the wind‐driven Ekman convergence in the Canada Basin. This is a mechanism we have identified to play an important and growing role in stabilizing the Ekman convergence and therefore the BG in recent years. This mechanism may be used to explain three scenarios that describe the interplay of changes in wind forcing, sea ice motion, and geostrophic currents that control the variability of the Ekman dynamics in the central BG during 1992–2014. Results also reveal several upwelling regions in the southern and northern Canada Basin and the Chukchi Abyssal Plain which may play a significant role in physical and biological processes in these regions. Plain Language Summary New spatial and temporal Ekman dynamics (i.e., horizontal Ekman transport and vertical Ekman pumping) is revealed in the western Arctic Ocean. It was known that the Ekman dynamics is very different under the sea ice. By considering the recent changes of the basin scaled geostrophic current, this study shown that the Ekman dynamics is regulated by the increasing geostrophic current under the sea ice. Key Points New insights into changes in Ekman dynamics in the western Arctic Ocean when the geostrophic currents become stronger in recent years A new mechanism is proposed to explain the stabilization of Beaufort Gyre in recent years Several upwelling regions are revealed which may play a significant role in physical and biological processes