• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic Ocean; Denmark Strait overflow; East Greenland Current; Nordic Seas; T-S analysis; water masses. Received 21 J; Arctic; Greenland; Denmark Strait; East Greenland; east greenland current; Fram Strait; Iceland; North Atlantic Deep Water; North Atlantic; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.544.7777; http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/6/1133.full.pdf

The East Greenland Current is the main conduit for the waters of the Arctic Ocean and the Nordic Seas to the North Atlantic. In addition to low salinity Polar Surface Water and sea ice, the East Greenland Current transports deep and intermediate waters exiting the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Water re-circulating in the Fram Strait. These water masses are already in the Fram Strait and are dense enough to contribute to the Denmark Strait overflow and to the North Atlantic Deep Water. On its route along the Greenland slope the East Greenland Current exchanges waters with the Greenland and Iceland Seas and incorporates additional intermediate water masses. In 1998 RV ‘‘Polarstern’ ’ and RV ‘‘Valdivia’ ’ occupied hydrographic sections on the Greenland continental slope from the Fram Strait to south of the Denmark Strait, crossing the East Greenland Current at nine different locations. The Arctic Ocean waters and the re-circulating Atlantic Water could be followed to just north of Denmark Strait, where the East Greenland Current encounters the northward-flowing branch of the Irminger Current. There strong mixing occurs both within the East Greenland Current and between the waters of the two currents. No distinct contri-