THE MOVEMENT OF ATLANTIC WATER IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN*

• Main Authors: L. K. Coachman, C. A. Barnes
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Greenland; Helland; Arctic Basin; north atlantic current; North Atlantic; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.557.9384; http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic16-1-8.pdf

W ATER with relatively high temperature (>3"C.) and salinity (slightly above 35%0) enters the Arctic Ocean through the strait lying between Spitsbergen and Greenland and then occupies the level between approxi-mately 200 and 900 metres. During the last century it was known (cf. Mohn 1887) that a branch of the North Atlantic current system flowed north through the eastern part of the Norwegian and Greenland seas, but it was Nansen (1902 et seq.) who first observed this water layer in the Arctic Ocean and recognized its connection with water of Atlantic origin. In 1910 (Helland-Hansen and Nansen 1912) and 1912 (Nansen 1915), Nansen studied this water where it enters the Arctic Ocean to the west and northwest of Spitsbergen in more detail and established that: (i) the water flows into the Arctic Basin as a well-defined current, which holds to the continental slope next to Spitsbergen and after passing Spitsbergen turns to the north-east and east, still following the continental slope; and (ii) the temperature of this water varies by 1 " to 2°C. from season to season and from year to year, whereas its salinity varies little, ranging from 34.95 to 35.10%~.