Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait)
Water mass generation and mixing in the eastern Fram Strait are strongly influenced by the interaction between Atlantic and Arctic waters and by the local atmospheric forcing, which produce dense water that substantially contributes to maintaining the global thermohaline circulation. The West Spitsb...
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Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46610/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.95ced983-ab47-4f5e-856d-a074888a7963 |
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:46610 2024-09-15T17:54:07+00:00 Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) Bensi, Manuel Kovacevic, Vedrana Langone, Leonardo Aliani, Stefano Ursella, Laura Goszczko, Ilona Soltwedel, Thomas Skogseth, Ragnheid Nilsen, F. Deponte, Davide Mansutti, P. Laterza, R. Rebesco, Michele Rui, L. Lucchi, Renata Wahlin, Anna Viola, Angelo Beszczynska-Moeller, A. Rubino, Angelo 2019 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46610/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.95ced983-ab47-4f5e-856d-a074888a7963 unknown Bensi, M. , Kovacevic, V. , Langone, L. , Aliani, S. , Ursella, L. , Goszczko, I. , Soltwedel, T. orcid:0000-0002-8214-5937 , Skogseth, R. , Nilsen, F. , Deponte, D. , Mansutti, P. , Laterza, R. , Rebesco, M. , Rui, L. , Lucchi, R. , Wahlin, A. , Viola, A. , Beszczynska-Moeller, A. and Rubino, A. (2019) Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) , MDPI Open Access Journals - Water, 11 (683) . doi:10.3390/w11040683 <https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040683> , hdl:10013/epic.95ced983-ab47-4f5e-856d-a074888a7963 EPIC3MDPI Open Access Journals - Water, 11(683) Article isiRev 2019 ftawi https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040683 2024-06-24T04:19:47Z Water mass generation and mixing in the eastern Fram Strait are strongly influenced by the interaction between Atlantic and Arctic waters and by the local atmospheric forcing, which produce dense water that substantially contributes to maintaining the global thermohaline circulation. The West Spitsbergen margin is an ideal area to study such processes. Hence, in order to investigate the deep flow variability on short-term, seasonal, and multiannual timescales, two moorings were deployed at ~1040 m depth on the southwest Spitsbergen continental slope. We present and discuss time series data collected between June 2014 and June 2016. They reveal thermohaline and current fluctuations that were largest from October to April, when the deep layer, typically occupied by Norwegian Sea Deep Water, was perturbed by sporadic intrusions of warmer, saltier, and less dense water. Surprisingly, the observed anomalies occurred quasi-simultaneously at both sites, despite their distance (~170 km). We argue that these anomalies may arise mainly by the effect of topographically trapped waves excited and modulated by atmospheric forcing. Propagation of internal waves causes a change in the vertical distribution of the Atlantic water, which can reach deep layers. During such events, strong currents typically precede thermohaline variations without significant changes in turbidity. However, turbidity increases during April–June in concomitance with enhanced downslope currents. Since prolonged injections of warm water within the deep layer could lead to a progressive reduction of the density of the abyssal water moving toward the Arctic Ocean, understanding the interplay between shelf, slope, and deep waters along the west Spitsbergen margin could be crucial for making projections on future changes in the global thermohaline circulation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Ocean Fram Strait Norwegian Sea Svalbard Spitsbergen Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Water 11 4 683 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
op_collection_id |
ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
Water mass generation and mixing in the eastern Fram Strait are strongly influenced by the interaction between Atlantic and Arctic waters and by the local atmospheric forcing, which produce dense water that substantially contributes to maintaining the global thermohaline circulation. The West Spitsbergen margin is an ideal area to study such processes. Hence, in order to investigate the deep flow variability on short-term, seasonal, and multiannual timescales, two moorings were deployed at ~1040 m depth on the southwest Spitsbergen continental slope. We present and discuss time series data collected between June 2014 and June 2016. They reveal thermohaline and current fluctuations that were largest from October to April, when the deep layer, typically occupied by Norwegian Sea Deep Water, was perturbed by sporadic intrusions of warmer, saltier, and less dense water. Surprisingly, the observed anomalies occurred quasi-simultaneously at both sites, despite their distance (~170 km). We argue that these anomalies may arise mainly by the effect of topographically trapped waves excited and modulated by atmospheric forcing. Propagation of internal waves causes a change in the vertical distribution of the Atlantic water, which can reach deep layers. During such events, strong currents typically precede thermohaline variations without significant changes in turbidity. However, turbidity increases during April–June in concomitance with enhanced downslope currents. Since prolonged injections of warm water within the deep layer could lead to a progressive reduction of the density of the abyssal water moving toward the Arctic Ocean, understanding the interplay between shelf, slope, and deep waters along the west Spitsbergen margin could be crucial for making projections on future changes in the global thermohaline circulation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bensi, Manuel Kovacevic, Vedrana Langone, Leonardo Aliani, Stefano Ursella, Laura Goszczko, Ilona Soltwedel, Thomas Skogseth, Ragnheid Nilsen, F. Deponte, Davide Mansutti, P. Laterza, R. Rebesco, Michele Rui, L. Lucchi, Renata Wahlin, Anna Viola, Angelo Beszczynska-Moeller, A. Rubino, Angelo |
spellingShingle |
Bensi, Manuel Kovacevic, Vedrana Langone, Leonardo Aliani, Stefano Ursella, Laura Goszczko, Ilona Soltwedel, Thomas Skogseth, Ragnheid Nilsen, F. Deponte, Davide Mansutti, P. Laterza, R. Rebesco, Michele Rui, L. Lucchi, Renata Wahlin, Anna Viola, Angelo Beszczynska-Moeller, A. Rubino, Angelo Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) |
author_facet |
Bensi, Manuel Kovacevic, Vedrana Langone, Leonardo Aliani, Stefano Ursella, Laura Goszczko, Ilona Soltwedel, Thomas Skogseth, Ragnheid Nilsen, F. Deponte, Davide Mansutti, P. Laterza, R. Rebesco, Michele Rui, L. Lucchi, Renata Wahlin, Anna Viola, Angelo Beszczynska-Moeller, A. Rubino, Angelo |
author_sort |
Bensi, Manuel |
title |
Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) |
title_short |
Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) |
title_full |
Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) |
title_fullStr |
Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) |
title_sort |
deep flow variability offshore south-west svalbard (fram strait) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46610/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.95ced983-ab47-4f5e-856d-a074888a7963 |
genre |
Arctic Ocean Fram Strait Norwegian Sea Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ocean Fram Strait Norwegian Sea Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
EPIC3MDPI Open Access Journals - Water, 11(683) |
op_relation |
Bensi, M. , Kovacevic, V. , Langone, L. , Aliani, S. , Ursella, L. , Goszczko, I. , Soltwedel, T. orcid:0000-0002-8214-5937 , Skogseth, R. , Nilsen, F. , Deponte, D. , Mansutti, P. , Laterza, R. , Rebesco, M. , Rui, L. , Lucchi, R. , Wahlin, A. , Viola, A. , Beszczynska-Moeller, A. and Rubino, A. (2019) Deep flow variability offshore south-west Svalbard (Fram Strait) , MDPI Open Access Journals - Water, 11 (683) . doi:10.3390/w11040683 <https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040683> , hdl:10013/epic.95ced983-ab47-4f5e-856d-a074888a7963 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/w11040683 |
container_title |
Water |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
683 |
_version_ |
1810430326701293568 |