Spenser Ross wins the best poster award at the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Annual Congress
Spenser Ross, PhD candidate in the Moore Lab, won the best poster award at the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Annual Congress this June!
His poster titled "The Influence of Taylor Columns on Ocean Dynamics and Sea Ice in the Chukchi Sea” explained the delayed ice melt that has been observed over Herald Shoal in the Chukchi Sea of over a century.
It has been hypothesized to be due to Taylor Column formation over the shoal. Taylor columns form when the effect of Earth’s rotation causes water to flow around underwater topography like a rigid column. Spenser used a high-resolution ice-ocean coupled model to confirm that the formation of Taylor Columns traps colder water over the shoal during the melt season. This prolongs ice cover on the order of weeks longer than the surrounding areas. Herald Shoal is an ecological hotspot and may become increasingly important as warming continues to cause rapid ice loss in the region.
