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| Titel |
The Arctic Front in the Fram Strait in autumn 2011 |
| VerfasserIn |
Jenny Ullgren, Eva Falck, Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller, Hanne Sagen |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2016
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 18 (2016) |
| Datensatznummer |
250133143
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2016-13721.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The front between Atlantic water carried northward by the main branch of the West
Spitsbergen Current and the cooler, fresher Arctic domain in the central Fram Strait, here
called the Arctic Front, is important because of the exchange of heat and salt across it. The
marked water mass boundary and the dynamics of the front also profoundly affect the living
conditions for marine organisms. A northwest-to-southeast transect across the Arctic Front
with concurrent shipboard and glider measurements was done in September 2011. The CTD
data, nutrient and pigment samples, and underway ADCP data from the research cruise are
complemented by the glider observations of temperature and salinity at higher horizontal
resolution. In addition, images from the ship’s scientific echo sounder are used to
qualitatively describe the water column structure and distribution of marine organisms along
the transect. Crossing the front from northwest to southeast, the near-surface (5 m)
temperature increased by more than 4∘C and salinity increased by 0.98 PSU between
stations 19 km apart. The front was thus clearly marked in salinity and temperature in
the upper 200 m, but below the surface layer it was largely density compensated.
The highest chlorophyll-a concentrations were found in subsurface maxima on the
Arctic side of the front. We investigate the hydrographic structure of the front,
considering properties relevant to cross-frontal exchange and mixing. We also assess the
environmental conditions on each side of the front – for example mixed layer depths,
nutrient availability, and bio-optical properties – and their implications for marine life. |
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