Publication Date:
2022-05-26
Description:
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 122 (2017): 1974–1994, doi:10.1002/2016JC012228.
Description:
We present measurements from two shipboard surveys conducted in summer 2012 that sampled
the rim current system around the Nordic Seas from Fram Strait to Denmark Strait. The data reveal
that, along a portion of the western boundary of the Nordic Seas, the East Greenland Current (EGC) has
three distinct components. In addition to the well-known shelfbreak branch, there is an inshore branch on
the continental shelf as well as a separate branch offshore of the shelfbreak. The inner branch contributes
significantly to the overall freshwater transport of the rim current system, and the outer branch transports a
substantial amount of Atlantic-origin Water equatorward. Supplementing our measurements with historical
hydrographic data, we argue that the offshore branch is a direct recirculation of the western branch of the
West Spitsbergen Current in Fram Strait. The total transport of the shelfbreak EGC (the only branch sampled
consistently in all of the sections) decreased toward Denmark Strait. The estimated average transport of
dense overflow water (rh 〉 27.8 kg/m3 and h〉08C) in the shelfbreak EGC was 2.860.7 Sv, consistent
with previous moored measurements. For the three sections that crossed the entire EGC system the freshwater
flux, relative to a salinity of 34.8, ranged from 127613 to 8168 mSv. The hydrographic data reveal
that, between Fram Strait and Denmark Strait, the core of the Atlantic-origin Water in the shelfbreak EGC
cools and freshens but changes very little in density.
Description:
Norwegian Research Council Grant Number: 231647;
European Union 7th Framework Grant Number: 308299;
National Science Foundation Grant Number: OCE-0959381
Description:
2017-09-13
Keywords:
East Greenland Current
;
Denmark Strait
;
Fram Strait
;
Atlantic Water
;
Nordic Seas
;
Freshwater
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Article
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