Variability of physical and chemical characteristics along the 70-m isobath of the southeastern Bering Sea

From observations of ice cover, temperature, salinity, currents and nitrate, it is evident that along-shelf variability was significant over the middle shelf of the eastern Bering Sea, but less distinct than that observed in the cross-shelf domains. Along the 70-m isobath, three zones were evident in the summer: the southeastern cold pool (centered at similar to 57degreesN); an intermediate zone, consisting of warmer water, with weaker stratification; and the northern cold pool, extending northward from 58degreesN. Small-scale (similar to 20 km) horizontal features that persisted for months were common. Nutrient concentrations were related to salinity and were replenished more uniformly over the southern shelf, than north of the Pribilof Islands. Although mean currents were weak (similar to 1 cm s(-1)), short energetic advective events impacted the temperature and salinity structure. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.