Articles | Volume 22, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3287-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-3287-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Review article
| 
21 Oct 2026
Review article |
| 21 Oct 2026
| 21 Oct 2026
The circulation and water mass (trans)formations in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea and their implications for the deep ocean circulation: a narrative
Bert Rudels
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
retired
Eddy Carmack
Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sidney, BC, Canada
Related authors
No articles found.
Igor V. Polyakov, Andrey V. Pnyushkov, Eddy C. Carmack, Matthew Charette, Kyoung-Ho Cho, Steven Dykstra, Jari Haapala, Jinyoung Jung, Lauren Kipp, Eun Jin Yang, and Sergey Molodtsov
Ocean Sci., 21, 3105–3122, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3105-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-21-3105-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Siberian Arctic Ocean greatly influences the Arctic climate system. Moreover, the region is experiencing some of the most notable Arctic climate change. In the summer, strong near-inertial currents in the upper (<30m) ocean account for more than half of the current speed and shear. In the winter, upper ocean ventilation due to atlantification distributes wind energy to far deeper (>100m) layers. Understanding the implications for mixing and halocline weakening depends on these findings.
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Short summary
The pathways and transformations of water masses within the Arctic Mediterranean Sea are traced and how waters leaving differ from those entering elucidated. Processes constraining sea ice formation and melting due to atmospheric interaction and exchanges with the underlying ocean are central to understanding the Arctic Ocean. The focus is on the Atlantic water, how its northward circulation affects the Arctic conditions, and how returning, transformed water impacts the global circulation.
The pathways and transformations of water masses within the Arctic Mediterranean Sea are traced...
Special issue