Salinity Minimum in the North Pacific

V. A. Sosnin and N. I. Rudykh

Analyzed is the variability of seasonal salinity in the North Pacific. It is demonstrated that the formation and disappearance of salinity minimum in subsurface layers depends on the freshwater budget variability of different time scales. In general, the salinity minimum is a temporary phenomenon formed during the negative phase of freshwater budget, when the evaporation exceeds the precipitation. Seasonal variability of fresh water budget leads to the seasonal formation of salinity minimum on the boundary between the climatic zones. The existence of salinity minimum at intermediate depths in the tropics is caused by the negative phase of long-period variability of freshwater budget.

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