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| Titel |
On the Nature of the Mesoscale Variability in Denmark Strait |
| VerfasserIn |
Robert Pickart, Wilken von Appen, Dana Mastropole, Hedinn Valdimarsson, Kjetil Våge, Steingriumur Jonsson, Kerstin Jochumsen, James Girton |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2017
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
en
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 19 (2017) |
| Datensatznummer |
250141826
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2017-5372.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| The dense overflow through Denmark Strait is the largest contributor
to the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation.
As such, it is important to understand the sources of water feeding
the overflow and how the water negotiates the sill as it passes into
the Irminger Sea. Here we use a large collection of shipboard
hydrographic transects occupied across the strait, together with
6-years of mooring data from the sill, to investigate the water masses
and mesoscale variability of the overflow water. Two dominant types of
mesoscale features were identified, referred to as a "bolus" and a
"pulse". The former is a large lens of weakly stratified water
corresponding to a slight increase in along-strait velocity. The
latter is a thin layer with greater stratification and strongly
enhanced along-strait flow. The boluses, which are often noted in the
historical literature, are associated with cyclonic circulation, while
pulses, which have not been previously identified, are associated with
anti-cyclonic circulation. Both features result in increased transport
of overflow water. It is argued that these fluctuations at the sill
trigger energetic variability downstream in the Deep Western Boundary
Current. |
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