Beaufort Gyre
Encyclopedia
The Beaufort Gyre is a wind driven ocean current
located in the Arctic Ocean
. The gyre contains both ice and water. It accumulates fresh water by the process of melting the ice floating on the surface of the water.
are to weaken, high volumes of freshwater
could leak out of the eastern side of the Arctic Ocean. The fresh water could leak into the Northern Atlantic Ocean
, causing large impacts on ocean circulation and climate
.
Because accessing the Beaufort Gyre is very difficult, scientists know very little about it. It would be very difficult to access in the winter, because of the ice. During the winter, it would also be nighttime for most of the day, which would make it impossible to see without artificial light. Studies by Arthur S. Dyke and others show that if rivers increased discharges into the Beaufort Gyre, it might shift it to the right.
Ocean current
An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of ocean water generated by the forces acting upon this mean flow, such as breaking waves, wind, Coriolis effect, cabbeling, temperature and salinity differences and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun...
located in the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
. The gyre contains both ice and water. It accumulates fresh water by the process of melting the ice floating on the surface of the water.
Studies
The oceanographer Andrey Proshutinsky has theorized that if winds and the gyreGyre
A gyre in oceanography is any large system of rotating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis Effect; planetary vorticity along with horizontal and vertical friction, which determine the circulation patterns from the wind curl...
are to weaken, high volumes of freshwater
Freshwater
Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...
could leak out of the eastern side of the Arctic Ocean. The fresh water could leak into the Northern Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, causing large impacts on ocean circulation and climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
.
Because accessing the Beaufort Gyre is very difficult, scientists know very little about it. It would be very difficult to access in the winter, because of the ice. During the winter, it would also be nighttime for most of the day, which would make it impossible to see without artificial light. Studies by Arthur S. Dyke and others show that if rivers increased discharges into the Beaufort Gyre, it might shift it to the right.