March 9, 2021 - The Icy Heart of the North Pacific

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   The Sea of Okhotsk, wedged between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and the
   Siberian mainland, has been called the “heart of the North Pacific
   Ocean”, thanks to the powerful circulation driven by freeze-up of the
   waters each winter. As salty seawater freezes, the ice that forms on
   top contains very little salt, while the water underneath becomes
   increasingly saline. This is particularly true in the Sea of Okhotsk,
   where dense freezing is encouraged by the inflow of fresh water from
   Siberia’s Amur River. Each winter, a thick layer of sea ice forms over
   the Sea of Okhotsk, creating an extremely saline layer underneath. This
   saline water is very dense and cold—and it is also rich in minerals,
   oxygen, and other nutrients which are expelled as water freezes into
   its crystalline form (ice). Cold, dense (i.e., salty) water sinks and
   creates a powerful circulatory flow known as “thermohaline
   circulation”. Water flows from the Sea of Okhotsk, first to the east
   where it feeds to Sakhalin Current and then northward where it pumps
   into the Oyashio Current.

   On March 7, 2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of
   the ice-covered Sea of Okhotsk. Looking much like a frigid heart, the
   bright white frozen water is surrounded by the Russian mainland,
   Sakhalin Island (south) and the Kamchatka Peninsula (east). Dense
   clouds, pushed into long parallel rows that align with the prevailing
   wind, nearly obscure Sakhalin Island and the waters of the Pacific
   Ocean from view. This cloud pattern, called “cloud streets”, often
   forms when very cold, dry air is pushed over relatively warmer, moist
   air.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 3/7/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (3.6 MB),  500m (10.2 MB),  250m (8.2 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-03-09
 
