Estimation of glacial meltwater discharge into Svalbard coastal waters. Oceanologia 39

• Main Authors: Agnieszka Beszczyńska-Möller, Jan Marcin Węsławski, Waldemar Walczowski, Marek Zajączkowski, A Beszczyńska-Möller, J M Węsławski, W Walczowski, M Zajączkowski
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1997
• Subjects: Arctic; Barents Sea; Hornsund; Kongsfjord; Svalbard; Kongsfjord*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1068.4777; http://www.iopan.gda.pl/oceanologia/OC_39/OC39_3-8_Beszczynska-Moller.pdf

Abstract During the summer expeditions of r/v 'Oceania' in 1995'Oceania' in -1996, oceanographic investigations comprising CTD profiling and suspension measurements were conducted in Svalbard fjords and shelf waters. The freshwater volume was estimated independently from the salinity drop as compared with the assumed background salinity and from the distribution of mineral suspension density in surface waters. Preliminary calculations of the instantaneous freshwater volume based on the distribution of suspended matter (at depths of < 150 m) yielded a figure of 80 km 3 in Svalbard coastal waters in summer. Values for Hornsund and Kongsfjord ranged from 0.4 to 0.7 km 3 of freshwater at the height of summer. This corresponds well with glaciological estimations, which give an annual discharge of 14.6 to 27.5 km 3 of freshwater for Svalbard. The glacial discharge is estimated to make up some 42% of the freshwater budget of Svalbard shelf waters, the remainder being derived from Barents Sea Arctic waters of reduced salinity.