Description: ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The article summarizes the hydrographic-hydrochemical conditions in the western and central Baltic Sea in 2017. Based on meteorological conditions, the horizontal and vertical distribution of temperature, salinity, oxygen/hydrogen sulphide and nutrients are described on a seasonal scale. For the southern Baltic Sea area, the “cold sum” of the air temperature of 31.7 Kd in Warnemünde amounted to a mild winter in 2014/15 and ranks as 15th warmest winter since the beginning of the record in 1948. The summer “heat sum” of 159.5 Kd ranks on 28th position of the warmest summers over the past 70 years and is slightly above the long-term average of 153.4 Kd. Based on satellite derived Sea Surface Temperature (SST) 2017 was the eleventh-warmest year since 1990 and with 0.24 K slightly above the long-term SST average. March, April and October - December contributed to the average by their positive anomalies. July and August were characterized by negative anomalies. The anomalies reached maximum values of +2 K and -3 K. The situation in the deep basins of the Baltic Sea was mainly coined by beginning stagnation at bottom-near water depths of the eastern Gotland Basin and ongoing ventilation of the upper part 5 of the deep-water above 150 m as a consequence of weak inflows. For the first time within this phase of intensified inflow activity, starting in 2014, the ventilation of the Farö Deep at the Northern Central Basin was registered at the beginning of the year. In the course of 2017 two weak inflows showing total volumes of 210 km^³ (February) and 188 km^³ (October) were registered. In conclusion, the impact of the observed phase of intensified water exchange processes with subsequent consequences for the biogeochemical cycles is weakening.GERMAN ABSTRACT: Die Arbeit beschreibt die hydrographisch-hydrochemischen Bedingungen in der westlichen und zentralen Ostsee für das Jahr 2017. Basierend auf den meteorologischen Verhältnissen werden die horizontalen und vertikalen Verteilungsmuster von Temperatur, Salzgehalt, Sauerstoff/ Schwefelwasserstoff und Nährstoffen mit saisonaler Auflösung dargestellt. Für den südlichen Ostseeraum ergab sich eine Kältesumme der Lufttemperatur an der Station Warnemünde von 31,7 Kd. Im Vergleich belegt der Winter 2016/17 den 15. Platz der wärmsten Winter seit Beginn der Aufzeichnungen im Jahr 1948 und wird als mild klassifiziert. Mit einer Wärmesumme von 159,5 Kd rangiert der Sommer im Mittelfeld der 70jährigen Datenreihe und reiht sich auf Platz 28 der wärmsten Sommer ein. Das Langzeitmittel liegt bei 153,4 Kd. Auf der Grundlage von satellitengestützten Meeresoberflächentemperaturen (SST) war 2017 das elft- wärmste Jahr seit 1990 und mit 0,24 K etwas über dem langfristigen SST-Mittel. März, April und Oktober - Dezember trugen durch ihre positiven Anomalien zum Durchschnitt bei. Juli und August waren durch negative Anomalien gekennzeichnet. Die Anomalien erreichten Höchstwerte von +2 K und -3 K. Die Situation in den Tiefenbecken der Ostsee war im Wesentlichen geprägt durch bodennah einsetzende Stagnation im östlichen Gotland Becken und Belüftung der mittleren Wassersäule oberhalb 150 m im Zuge kleinerer Einströme. Zu Jahresbeginn wurde das im nördlichen Zentralbecken gelegene Farö Tief erstmals innerhalb der aktuellen Einstromphase belüftet. Im Jahresverlauf 2017 wurden zwei weitere schwache Einströme mit Volumina zwischen 210 km³ und 188 km³ im Februar sowie Oktober registriert. Zusammenfassend kann gesagt werden, dass die Auswirkungen der seit 2014 beobachten Phase von verstärkten Wasseraustauschprozessen mit entsprechenden Konsequenzen für die biogeochemischen Kreisläufe abklingen.

Description: Semi-enclosed marginal seas like the Baltic Sea are often characterized by permanently anoxic deep layers, and may therefore serve as important model systems to study the causes and consequences of the predicted global expansion of oxygen minimum zones. Here, we focus on the role of lateral intrusions in maintaining the “hypoxic transition zone” (HTZ) of the Baltic Sea, which characterizes the quasi-permanent hypoxic region located between the oxygenized surface layer and the sulfidic deep-water region. Based on long-term deployments of an autonomous profiling system in the central Baltic Sea, we show that oxic mid-water intrusions are ubiquitous features, providing the most important oxygen source for the HTZ, and largely control the vertical and lateral extent of the hypoxic areas. An oxygen budget for the HTZ suggests that oxygen turnover in the HTZ is, to first order, determined by a long-term balance between sedimentary oxygen demand and oxygen import by intrusions. The downward mixing of oxygen into the HTZ is generally non-negligible but unlikely to provide a first-order contribution to the HTZ oxygen budget. On the long-term average, mid-water intrusions were shown to inject 30–60 Gmol of oxygen per year into the deep-water region below the permanent halocline. This is approximately one order of magnitude larger than the average amount of oxygen imported during the massive deep-water inflow events (Major Baltic Inflows) that occur on an approximately decadal time scale, highlighting the HTZ as a hotspot for biogeochemical turnover.

Description: Basal melting of marine‐terminating glaciers, through its impact on the forces that control the flow of the glaciers, is one of the major factors determining sea level rise in a world of global warming. Detailed quantitative understanding of dynamic and thermodynamic processes in melt‐water plumes underneath the ice‐ocean interface is essential for calculating the subglacial melt rate. The aim of this study is therefore to develop a numerical model of high spatial and process resolution to consistently reproduce the transports of heat and salt from the ambient water across the plume into the glacial ice. Based on boundary layer relations for momentum and tracers, stationary analytical solutions for the vertical structure of subglacial non‐rotational plumes are derived, including entrainment at the plume base. These solutions are used to develop and test convergent numerical formulations for the momentum and tracer fluxes across the ice‐ocean interface. After implementation of these formulations into a water‐column model coupled to a second‐moment turbulence closure model, simulations of a transient rotational subglacial plume are performed. The simulated entrainment rate of ambient water entering the plume at its base is compared to existing entrainment parameterizations based on bulk properties of the plume. A sensitivity study with variations of interfacial slope, interfacial roughness and ambient water temperature reveals substantial performance differences between these bulk formulations. An existing entrainment parameterization based on the Froude number and the Ekman number proves to have the highest predictive skill. Recalibration to subglacial plumes using a variable drag coefficient further improves its performance.

Description: Plain Language Summary: In a world of global warming, the melting of glaciers terminating as floating ice tongues into the oceans of Arctic and Antarctic regions allows those glaciers to flow faster and hence to make a considerable contribution to global mean sea‐level rise. Underneath the ice‐ocean interface, turbulent currents of the order of 10 m thickness (so‐called plumes) develop that transport the melt water from the grounding line where the glacier enters the ocean toward the calving front that marks the seaward end of the glacier. At its base, ambient relatively warm and salty ocean water is mixed into the plumes and is vertically transported toward the ice‐ocean interface, where the melting is increased due to the additional heat supply. Understanding these processes is essential for their incorporation into computer models for the prediction of such melt processes. In this study, an accurate simulation model for the water column is constructed that is able to consistently reproduce these processes. The algorithms developed here are proven to provide reliable results also for models with only a few grid points across the plume and can therefore be implemented into climate models with surface‐following coordinates to more accurately simulate future scenarios of sea level rise.

Description: Key Points: A vertically resolving model with second‐moment turbulence closure has been constructed for subglacial plumes. Convergent numerical formulations for the ocean‐to‐ice fluxes of momentum, freshwater and heat have been derived from an analytical model. Model results are consistent with bulk parameterizations for the entrainment of ambient water.

Description: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347

Description: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6203838