The Eurasian Arctic Ocean along the MosaiC drift in 2019–2020
An interdisciplinary perspective on physical properties and processes
Bibliographic Data
The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC, 2019–2020), a year-long drift with the Arctic sea ice, has provided the scientific community with an unprecedented, multidisciplinary dataset from the Eurasian Arctic Ocean, covering high atmosphere to deep ocean across all seasons. However, the heterogeneity of data and the superposition of spatial and temporal variability, intrinsic to a drift campaign, complicate the interpretation of observations. In this study, we have compiled a quality-controlled physical hydrographic dataset with best spatio-temporal coverage and derived core parameters, including the mixed layer depth, heat fluxes over key layers, and friction velocity. We provide a comprehensive and accessible overview of the ocean conditions encountered along the MOSAiC drift, discuss their interdisciplinary implications, and compare common ocean climatologies to these new data. Our results indicate that, for the most part, ocean variability was dominated by regional rather than seasonal signals, carrying potentially strong implications for ocean biogeochemistry, ecology, sea ice, and even atmospheric conditions. Near-surface ocean properties were strongly influenced by the relative position of sampling, within or outside the river-water influenced Transpolar Drift, and seasonal warming and meltwater input. Ventilation down to the Atlantic Water layer in the Nansen Basin allowed for a stronger connectivity between subsurface heat and the sea ice and surface ocean via elevated upward heat fluxes. The Yermak Plateau and Fram Strait regions were characterized by heterogeneous water mass distributions, energetic ocean currents, and stronger lateral gradients in surface water properties in frontal regions. Together with the presented results and core parameters, we offer context for interdisciplinary research, fostering an improved understanding of the complex, coupled Arctic System
Archaeology · Arctic · Climatology · Earth science · Geography · Mosaic · The arctic · Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics · Computer Science · Geological Studies and Exploration · Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena · Artificial Intelligence · Geology · Oceanography
The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979
The future of Arctic sea-ice biogeochemistry and ice-associated ecosystems
Overview of the MosaiC expedition
Spatiotemporal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice
Overview of the MosaiC expedition
Quantifying false bottoms and under-ice meltwater layers beneath Arctic summer sea ice with fine-scale observations
Overview of the MosaiC expedition
Overview of the MosaiC expedition
Seasonality and timing of sea ice mass balance and heat fluxes in the Arctic transpolar drift during 2019–2020
Sea ice heat and mass balance measurements from four autonomous buoys during the MosaiC drift campaign
Temporal evolution of under-ice meltwater layers and false bottoms and their impact on summer Arctic sea ice mass balance
Thin and transient meltwater layers and false bottoms in the Arctic sea ice pack—Recent insights on these historically overlooked features
Meltwater layer dynamics in a central Arctic lead
Arctic sea ice thickness, volume, and multiyear ice coverage
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
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