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The Arctic Ocean: Physical Processes and their Effects on Climate and the Ecosystem
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Overturning in the Nordic Seas (Invited)
Wednesday 9th @ 1330-1350, Conference Room 5
Kjetil Våge* , University of Bergen
Presenter Email: kjetil.vage@gfi.uib.no |
| Dense water masses formed in the Nordic Seas flow southward across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge and provide a major contribution to the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The largest of these overflow plumes passes through Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland. Here we document recent progress to identify the sources of the dense overflow waters and their pathways into Denmark Strait. Two distinct overturning circulations transform the warm Atlantic inflow into the Nordic Seas into dense water masses and supply the Denmark Strait overflow. North of the strait a moored array was deployed to quantify the relative importance of these overturning circulations. High-resolution hydrographic and velocity surveys along Greenland and Iceland have detailed the properties of the water masses that form the overflow and the currents that transport them. A retreating ice edge along east Greenland is impacting the formation of dense water, but it remains to be clarified whether this will weaken the overturning in the Nordic Seas. |
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