Osadchiev, A. A., Izhitskiy, A. S., Zavialov, P. O., Kremenetskiy, V. V., Polukhin, A. A., Pelevin, V. V., Toktamysova, Z. M.
This article focuses on the interaction between the Ob- and Yenisei-dominated parts of the large Ob-Yenisei buoyant plume formed in the southern Kara Sea during ice-free periods. Certain wind forcing and river-discharge conditions produce a structure in which the Yenisei runoff generates a narrow coastal current along the Taymyr Peninsula, isolated from ambient sea water by the Ob-dominated water mass; the low-salinity Yenisei mass then occupies a small area while the more saline Ob mass spreads widely. This "isolation" configuration is presumed to arise from eastward Ekman transport and downwelling. From satellite imagery, wind reanalysis, and discharge data for 2005–2011, the configuration is shown to form regularly in late summer and autumn when Ob discharge exceeds Yenisei discharge under a northerly wind regime, with a synoptic time scale and strong interannual variability.