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| Titel |
Water mass distribution in Fram Strait and over the Yermak Plateau in summer 1997 |
| VerfasserIn |
B. Rudels, R. Meyer, E. Fahrbach, V. V. Ivanov, S. Østerhus, D. Quadfasel, U. Schauer, V. Tverberg, R. A. Woodgate |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
0992-7689
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Annales Geophysicae ; 18, no. 6 ; Nr. 18, no. 6, S.687-705 |
| Datensatznummer |
250014023
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/angeo-18-687-2000.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
The water mass distribution in northern Fram
Strait and over the Yermak Plateau in summer 1997 is described using CTD data
from two cruises in the area. The West Spitsbergen Current was found to split,
one part recirculated towards the west, while the other part, on entering the
Arctic Ocean separated into two branches. The main inflow of Atlantic Water
followed the Svalbard continental slope eastward, while a second, narrower,
branch stayed west and north of the Yermak Plateau. The water column above the
southeastern flank of the Yermak Plateau was distinctly colder and less saline
than the two inflow branches. Immediately west of the outer inflow branch
comparatively high temperatures in the Atlantic Layer suggested that a part of
the extraordinarily warm Atlantic Water, observed in the boundary current in the
Eurasian Basin in the early 1990s, was now returning, within the Eurasian Basin,
toward Fram Strait. The upper layer west of the Yermak Plateau was cold, deep
and comparably saline, similar to what has recently been observed in the
interior Eurasian Basin. Closer to the Greenland continental slope the salinity
of the upper layer became much lower, and the temperature maximum of the
Atlantic Layer was occasionally below
0.5 °C, indicating water masses mainly derived from the Canadian Basin. This
implies that the warm pulse of Atlantic Water had not yet made a complete
circuit around the Arctic Ocean. The Atlantic Water of the West Spitsbergen
Current recirculating within the strait did not extend as far towards Greenland
as in the 1980s, leaving a broader passage for waters from the Atlantic and
intermediate layers, exiting the Arctic Ocean. A possible interpretation is that
the circulation pattern alternates between a strong recirculation of the West
Spitsbergen Current in the strait, and a larger exchange of Atlantic Water
between the Nordic Seas and the inner parts of the Arctic Ocean.
Key words: Oceanography: general (Arctic and Antarctic
oceanography; water masses) - Oceanography: physical (general circulation) |
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