Frontal Structures in the West Spitsbergen Current Margins
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Eddy-Driven Recirculation of Atlantic Water in Fram Strait
PUBLICATIONS Geophysical Research Letters RESEARCH LETTER Eddy-driven recirculation of Atlantic Water in Fram Strait 10.1002/2016GL068323 Tore Hattermann1,2, Pål Erik Isachsen3,4, Wilken-Jon von Appen2, Jon Albretsen5, and Arild Sundfjord6 Key Points: 1Akvaplan-niva AS, High North Research Centre, Tromsø, Norway, 2Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and • fl Seasonally varying eddy-mean ow 3 4 interaction controls recirculation of Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway, Institute of Geosciences, 5 6 Atlantic Water in Fram Strait University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, Institute for Marine Research, Bergen, Norway, Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsø, Norway • The bulk recirculation occurs in a cyclonic gyre around the Molloy Hole at 80 degrees north Abstract Eddy-resolving regional ocean model results in conjunction with synthetic float trajectories and • A colder westward current south of observations provide new insights into the recirculation of the Atlantic Water (AW) in Fram Strait that 79 degrees north relates to the Greenland Sea Gyre, not removing significantly impacts the redistribution of oceanic heat between the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean. The Atlantic Water from the slope current simulations confirm the existence of a cyclonic gyre around the Molloy Hole near 80°N, suggesting that most of the AW within the West Spitsbergen Current recirculates there, while colder AW recirculates in a Supporting Information: westward mean flow south of 79°N that primarily relates to the eastern rim of the Greenland Sea Gyre. The • Supporting Information S1 fraction of waters recirculating in the northern branch roughly doubles during winter, coinciding with a • Movie S1 seasonal increase of eddy activity along the Yermak Plateau slope that also facilitates subduction of AW Correspondence to: beneath the ice edge in this area. -
Sensitivity of the Ocean–Atmosphere Carbon Cycle to Ice-Covered and Ice-Free Conditions in the Nordic Seas During the Last Glacial Maximum
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 207 (2004) 127–141 www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo Sensitivity of the ocean–atmosphere carbon cycle to ice-covered and ice-free conditions in the Nordic Seas during the Last Glacial Maximum Michael Schulza,b,*, Andre´ Paulb a Institut fu¨r Geowissenschaften, Universita¨t Kiel, D-24098 Kiel, Germany b Fachbereich Geowissenschaften and DFG Forschungszentrum ‘‘Ozeanra¨nder’’, Universita¨t Bremen, D-28334 Bremen, Germany Abstract A global carbon-cycle box model forced by an ocean-general circulation model (OGCM) is used to investigate how different sea-surface reconstructions for the northern North Atlantic Ocean (Nordic Seas) for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) affect the ocean–atmosphere carbon cycle via changes in the large-scale thermohaline circulation. For perennial sea-ice cover in the Nordic Seas [CLIMAP, Chart Ser. (Geol. Soc. Am.) MC-36 (1981)], the model-predicted deep-water formation areas, d13C distribution and 14C ventilation ages are partly inconsistent with palaeoceanographic data for the glacial Atlantic Ocean. Considering ice-free conditions during LGM summer in the Nordic Seas [Weinelt et al., Palaeoclimatology 1 (1996) 283] brings the model results in better agreement with palaeoceanographic findings, thus supporting this particular sea-surface reconstruction. For both LGM scenarios, the ocean circulation model simulates a reduction in the export of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) to the Southern Ocean by 50% compared to today. The effect of changes in the intensity of the thermohaline circulation on atmospheric CO2 content alone is rather small, accounting for approximately 20% of the net CO2 lowering during the LGM. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. -
The East Greenland Current North of Denmark Strait: Part I'
The East Greenland Current North of Denmark Strait: Part I' K. AAGAARD AND L. K. COACHMAN2 ABSTRACT.Current measurements within the East Greenland Current during winter1965 showed that above thecontinental slope there were large on-shore components of flow, probably representing a westward Ekman transport. The speed did not decrease significantly with depth, indicatingthat the barotropic mode domi- nates the flow. Typical current speeds were10 to 15 cm. sec.-l. The transport of the current during winter exceeds 35 x 106 m.3 sec-1. This is an order of magnitude greater than previous estimates and, although there may be seasonal fluctuations in the transport, it suggests that the East Greenland Current primarily represents a circulation internal to the Greenland and Norwegian seas, rather than outflow from the central Polarbasin. RESUME. Lecourant du Groenland oriental au nord du dbtroit de Danemark. Aucours de l'hiver de 1965, des mesures effectukes danslecourant du Groenland oriental ont montr6 que sur le talus continental, la circulation comporte d'importantes composantes dirigkes vers le rivage, ce qui reprksente probablement un flux vers l'ouest selon le mouvement #Ekman. La vitesse ne diminue pas beau- coup avec laprofondeur, ce qui indique que le mode barotropique domine la circulation. Les vitesses typiques du courant sont de 10 B 15 cm/s-1. Au cows de l'hiver, le debit du courant dkpasse 35 x 106 m3/s-1. Cet ordre de grandeur dkpasse les anciennes estimations et, malgrC les fluctuations saisonnihres possibles, il semble que le courant du Groenland oriental correspond surtout B une circulation interne des mers du Groenland et de Norvhge, plut6t qu'8 un Bmissaire du bassin polaire central. -
Holocene Sea Subsurface and Surface Water Masses in the Fram Strait&Nbsp
Quaternary Science Reviews xxx (2015) 1e16 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quascirev Holocene sea subsurface and surface water masses in the Fram Strait e Comparisons of temperature and sea-ice reconstructions * Kirstin Werner a, , Juliane Müller b, Katrine Husum c, Robert F. Spielhagen d, e, Evgenia S. Kandiano e, Leonid Polyak a a Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University, 1090 Carmack Road, Columbus OH-43210, USA b Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27568 Bremerhaven, Germany c Norwegian Polar Institute, Framsenteret, Hjalmar Johansens Gate 14, 9296 Tromsø, Norway d Academy of Sciences, Humanities, and Literature Mainz, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 2, 55131 Mainz, Germany e GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148 Kiel, Germany article info abstract Article history: Two high-resolution sediment cores from eastern Fram Strait have been investigated for sea subsurface Received 30 April 2015 and surface temperature variability during the Holocene (the past ca 12,000 years). The transfer function Received in revised form developed by Husum and Hald (2012) has been applied to sediment cores in order to reconstruct fluc- 19 August 2015 tuations of sea subsurface temperatures throughout the period. Additional biomarker and foraminiferal Accepted 1 September 2015 proxy data are used to elucidate variability between surface and subsurface water mass conditions, and Available online xxx to conclude on the Holocene climate and oceanographic variability on the West Spitsbergen continental margin. Results consistently reveal warm sea surface to subsurface temperatures of up to 6 C until ca Keywords: Fram strait 5 cal ka BP, with maximum seawater temperatures around 10 cal ka BP, likely related to maximum July Holocene insolation occurring at that time. -
Deep Water Distribution and Transport in the Nordic Seas From
Acta Oceanol. Sin., 2015, Vol. 34, No. 3, P. 9–17 DOI: 10.1007/s13131-015-0629-4 http://www.hyxb.org.cn E-mail: [email protected] Deep water distribution and transport in the Nordic seas from climatological hydrological data HE Yan1,2*, ZHAO Jinping1, LIU Na2, WEI Zexun2, LIU Yahao3, LI Xiang3 1 Key Laboratory of Polar Oceanography and Global Ocean Change, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China 2 Laboratory of Marine Science and Numerical modeling, The First Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao 266061, China 3 Key Laboratory of Ocean Circulation and Waves, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China Received 10 April 2014; accepted 7 August 2014 ©The Chinese Society of Oceanography and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 Abstract Deep water in the Nordic seas is the major source of Atlantic deep water and its formation and transport play an important role in the heat and mass exchange between polar and the North Atlantic. A monthly hydrolog- ical climatology—Hydrobase II—is used to estimate the deep ocean circulation pattern and the deep water distribution in the Nordic seas. An improved P-vector method is applied in the geostrophic current calcula- tion which introduces sea surface height gradient to solve the issue that a residual barotropic flow cannot be recognized by traditional method in regions where motionless level does not exist. The volume proportions, spatial distributions and seasonal variations of major water masses are examined and a comparison with other hydrological dataset is carried out. The variations and transports of deep water are investigated based on estimated circulation and water mass distributions. -
The East Greenland Spill Jet*
JUNE 2005 P I CKART ET AL. 1037 The East Greenland Spill Jet* ROBERT S. PICKART,DANIEL J. TORRES, AND PAULA S. FRATANTONI Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts (Manuscript received 6 July 2004, in final form 3 November 2004) ABSTRACT High-resolution hydrographic and velocity measurements across the East Greenland shelf break south of Denmark Strait have revealed an intense, narrow current banked against the upper continental slope. This is believed to be the result of dense water cascading over the shelf edge and entraining ambient water. The current has been named the East Greenland Spill Jet. It resides beneath the East Greenland/Irminger Current and transports roughly 2 Sverdrups of water equatorward. Strong vertical mixing occurs during the spilling, although the entrainment farther downstream is minimal. A vorticity analysis reveals that the increase in cyclonic relative vorticity within the jet is partly balanced by tilting vorticity, resulting in a sharp front in potential vorticity reminiscent of the Gulf Stream. The other components of the Irminger Sea boundary current system are described, including a presentation of absolute transports. 1. Introduction current system—one that is remarkably accurate even by today’s standards (see Fig. 1). The first detailed study of the circulation and water Since these early measurements there have been nu- masses south of Denmark Strait was carried out in the merous field programs that have focused on the hy- mid-nineteenth century by the Danish Admiral Carl drography and circulation of the East Greenland shelf Ludvig Christian Irminger, after whom the sea is and slope. This was driven originally, in part, by the named (Fiedler 2003). -
Chapter 7 Arctic Oceanography; the Path of North Atlantic Deep Water
Chapter 7 Arctic oceanography; the path of North Atlantic Deep Water The importance of the Southern Ocean for the formation of the water masses of the world ocean poses the question whether similar conditions are found in the Arctic. We therefore postpone the discussion of the temperate and tropical oceans again and have a look at the oceanography of the Arctic Seas. It does not take much to realize that the impact of the Arctic region on the circulation and water masses of the World Ocean differs substantially from that of the Southern Ocean. The major reason is found in the topography. The Arctic Seas belong to a class of ocean basins known as mediterranean seas (Dietrich et al., 1980). A mediterranean sea is defined as a part of the world ocean which has only limited communication with the major ocean basins (these being the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans) and where the circulation is dominated by thermohaline forcing. What this means is that, in contrast to the dynamics of the major ocean basins where most currents are driven by the wind and modified by thermohaline effects, currents in mediterranean seas are driven by temperature and salinity differences (the salinity effect usually dominates) and modified by wind action. The reason for the dominance of thermohaline forcing is the topography: Mediterranean Seas are separated from the major ocean basins by sills, which limit the exchange of deeper waters. Fig. 7.1. Schematic illustration of the circulation in mediterranean seas; (a) with negative precipitation - evaporation balance, (b) with positive precipitation - evaporation balance. -
Carbon and Oxygen Fluxes in the Barents and Norwegian Seas
Carbon and oxygen fluxes in the Barents and Norwegian Seas: Production, air-sea exchange and budget calculations Caroline Kivimäe Dissertation for the degree philosophiae doctor (PhD) at the University of Bergen August 2007 ISBN 978-82-308-0414-8 Bergen, Norway 2007 Printed by Allkopi Ph: +47 55 54 49 40 ii Abstract This thesis focus on the carbon and oxygen fluxes in the Barents and Norwegian Seas and presents four studies where the main topics are variability of biological production, air-sea exchange and budget calculations. The world ocean is the largest short term reservoir of carbon on Earth, consequently it has the potential to control the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and has already taken up ~50 % of the antropogenically emitted CO2. It is thus important to study carbon related processes in the ocean to understand their changes in the past, present, and future perspectives. The main function of the Arctic Mediterranean, within which the study area lies, in the global carbon cycle is to take up CO2 from the atmosphere and, as part of the northern limb of the global thermohaline circulation, to convey surface water to the ocean interior. A carbon budget is constructed for the Barents Sea to study the carbon fluxes into and out of the area. The budget includes advection, air-sea exchange, river runoff, land sources and sedimentation. The results reviel that ~5.6 Gt C annually is exchanged through the boundaries of the Barents Sea mainly due to advection, and that the carbon sources within the Barents Sea itself are larger than the sinks. -
Enhancement of the North Atlantic CO2 Sink by Arctic Waters
Biogeosciences, 18, 1689–1701, 2021 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-1689-2021 © Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Enhancement of the North Atlantic CO2 sink by Arctic Waters Jon Olafsson1, Solveig R. Olafsdottir2, Taro Takahashi3;, Magnus Danielsen2, and Thorarinn S. Arnarson4; 1Institute of Earth Sciences, Sturlugata 7 Askja, University of Iceland, IS 101 Reykjavik, Iceland 2Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Fornubúðir 5, IS 220 Hafnafjörður, Iceland 3Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA 4National Energy Authority, Grensásvegur 9, IS 108 Reykjavík, Iceland deceased Correspondence: Jon Olafsson ([email protected]) Received: 13 August 2020 – Discussion started: 27 August 2020 Revised: 20 January 2021 – Accepted: 27 January 2021 – Published: 10 March 2021 ◦ Abstract. The North Atlantic north of 50 N is one of the lantic CO2 sink which we reveal was previously unrecog- most intense ocean sink areas for atmospheric CO2 consid- nized. However, we point out that there are gaps and conflicts ering the flux per unit area, 0.27 Pg-C yr−1, equivalent to in the knowledge about the Arctic alkalinity and carbonate −2 −1 −2:5 mol C m yr . The northwest Atlantic Ocean is a re- budgets and that future trends in the North Atlantic CO2 sink gion with high anthropogenic carbon inventories. This is on are connected to developments in the rapidly warming and account of processes which sustain CO2 air–sea fluxes, in changing Arctic. The results we present need to be taken into particular strong seasonal winds, ocean heat loss, deep con- consideration for the following question: will the North At- vective mixing, and CO2 drawdown by primary production. -
Current Status of IOPAN Observational Activities in the Nordic Seas and North of Svalbard A
SIOS Meeting November 19, 2020 Current status of IOPAN observational activities in the Nordic Seas and north of Svalbard A. Beszczynska-Möller, W. Walczowski, Agnieszka Strzelewicz Institute of Oceanology PAS, Sopot, Poland This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) Long-term large-scale Arctic monitoring program AREX 1987-ongoing: repeated sections and point moorings • Annually repeated field campaigns Arctic Experiments AREX take place every summer in June-August on board of the IOPAN RV Oceania and last approx. 80-90 days • 34 AREX expeditions in 1987-2020 • Measurement region includes the eastern Norwegian and Greenland seas, western Barents Sea, Fram Strait, southern Nansen Basin in the Arctic Ocean and West Spitsbergen fjords Long-term large-scale Arctic monitoring program AREX 1987-ongoing: repeated sections and point moorings Main aim is to observe the Atlantic water inflow towards the Arctic Ocean and into the Svalbard fjords and study its impact on sea ice and climate based on: • repeated summer hydrography with 10-15 sections since 1996 (CTD, continuous VM-ADCP recording and in the recent decade with LADCP profiling) • additional high resolution sections in the upper 300m layer with a towed CTD • year-long mooring deployments in the West Spitsbergen Current, north of Svalbard and on the western Spitsbergen shelf 6.0 Mean temperature Mean temperature of Atlantic water (T>0 4.0 1.5 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2002 in - 2016 (June 2016 - July) 2007 -
The Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas: Supplementary Materials
CHAPTER S12 The Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas: Supplementary Materials FIGURE S12.1 Principal currents of the Nordic Seas. Shaded currents show upper ocean circulation; thin black arrows show deep circulation. ÓAmerican Meteorological Society. Reprinted with permission. Source: From Østerhus and Gammelsrød (1999). 1 2 S12. THE ARCTIC OCEAN AND NORDIC SEAS: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS (a) (b) FIGURE S12.2 Classical and recent structure of the Nordic Seas water column: (a) with deep convection and (b) with intermediate depth convection. PW, Polar Water; RAW, Return Atlantic Water; AODW, Arctic Ocean Deep Water; and NSDW, Norwegian Sea Deep Water. Source: From Ronski and Bude´us (2005b). S12. THE ARCTIC OCEAN AND NORDIC SEAS: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS 3 FIGURE S12.3 (a) Salinity, (b) potential density (kg/m3), and (c) potential temperature ( C) sections at 75 N across the Greenland Sea “chimney.” The last shows the whole section, while the first two are expanded views of the chimney itself. Source: From Wadhams, Holfort, Hansen, and Wilkinson (2002). 4 S12. THE ARCTIC OCEAN AND NORDIC SEAS: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FIGURE S12.4 Monthly mean Arctic sea ice motion from 1979e2003 from Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) passive microwave satellite data. Extended from Emery, Fowler, and Maslanik (1997); data from NSIDC (2008a). S12. THE ARCTIC OCEAN AND NORDIC SEAS: SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS 5 FIGURE S12.5 Mean sea level pressure from ERA-15 and NCEP-NCAR reanalyses for (a) winter (DecembereFebruary) and (b) summer (JulyeSeptember) ÓAmerican Meteorological Society. Reprinted with permission. Source: From Bitz, Fyfe, and Flato (2002). Russian coast on the left and Lomonosov Ridge at the right. -
The North Atlantic Inflow to the Arctic Ocean: High-Resolution Model Study
ÔØ ÅÒÙ×Ö ÔØ The North Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Ocean: High-resolution model study Yevgeny Aksenov, Sheldon Bacon, Andrew C. Coward, A.J. George Nurser PII: S0924-7963(09)00211-5 DOI: doi: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2009.05.003 Reference: MARSYS 1863 To appear in: Journal of Marine Systems Received date: 30 July 2008 Revised date: 27 March 2009 Accepted date: 27 May 2009 Please cite this article as: Aksenov, Yevgeny, Bacon, Sheldon, Coward, Andrew C., Nurser, A.J. George, The North Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Ocean: High-resolution model study, Journal of Marine Systems (2009), doi: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2009.05.003 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT The North Atlantic Inflow to the Arctic Ocean: High-resolution Model Study ∗ YEVGENY AKSENOV , SHELDON BACON, ANDREW C. COWARD AND A. J. GEORGE NURSER National Oceanography Centre, Southampton Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK __________________________________________________________________ Abstract North Atlantic Water (NAW) plays a central role in the ocean climate of the Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean. Whereas the pathways of the NAW in the Nordic Seas are mostly known, those into the Arctic Ocean are yet to be fully understood.