Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait
The Fram Strait is the only deep gateway between the Arctic and the rest of the World Ocean, and it is thus a key region to understand how the deep Arctic will evolve. However, studies and data regarding the deep ocean are scarce, making it difficult to understand its role in the climate system. Her...
Published in: | Ocean Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-917-2024 https://os.copernicus.org/articles/20/917/2024/ |
id |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:os118221 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:os118221 2024-09-15T17:54:02+00:00 Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait Karam, Salar Heuzé, Céline Hoppmann, Mario Steur, Laura 2024-07-17 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-917-2024 https://os.copernicus.org/articles/20/917/2024/ eng eng doi:10.5194/os-20-917-2024 https://os.copernicus.org/articles/20/917/2024/ eISSN: 1812-0792 Text 2024 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-917-2024 2024-08-28T05:24:22Z The Fram Strait is the only deep gateway between the Arctic and the rest of the World Ocean, and it is thus a key region to understand how the deep Arctic will evolve. However, studies and data regarding the deep ocean are scarce, making it difficult to understand its role in the climate system. Here, we analyse oceanographic data obtained close to the Fram Strait sill depth of 2500 m by two long-term mooring locations (F11 and HG-FEVI) in the Fram Strait between 2010–2023 to investigate long-term changes in the hydrographic properties. For additional context, we compile hydrographic profile data from the 1980s for the adjacent basins: the Greenland Sea and the Eurasian Basin. At mooring F11 in the western Fram Strait, we find a clear seasonality, with increased Greenland Sea Deep Water (GSDW) presence during summer and increased Eurasian Basin Deep Water (EBDW) presence during winter. Evaluating long-term changes, we find a modest temperature increase of ∼ 0.1 °C for EBDW from the 1980s. For GSDW, south of the Fram Strait, we find a strong temperature increase of ∼ 0.4–0.5 °C for the same period. The different warming rates have led to GSDW becoming warmer than EBDW since ∼ 2017–2018. This means that the Greenland Sea is no longer a heat sink for the Arctic Ocean at depth but is rather a heat source. It is therefore possible that EBDW temperatures will increase faster in the future. Text Arctic Ocean Fram Strait Greenland Greenland Sea Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Ocean Science 20 4 917 930 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The Fram Strait is the only deep gateway between the Arctic and the rest of the World Ocean, and it is thus a key region to understand how the deep Arctic will evolve. However, studies and data regarding the deep ocean are scarce, making it difficult to understand its role in the climate system. Here, we analyse oceanographic data obtained close to the Fram Strait sill depth of 2500 m by two long-term mooring locations (F11 and HG-FEVI) in the Fram Strait between 2010–2023 to investigate long-term changes in the hydrographic properties. For additional context, we compile hydrographic profile data from the 1980s for the adjacent basins: the Greenland Sea and the Eurasian Basin. At mooring F11 in the western Fram Strait, we find a clear seasonality, with increased Greenland Sea Deep Water (GSDW) presence during summer and increased Eurasian Basin Deep Water (EBDW) presence during winter. Evaluating long-term changes, we find a modest temperature increase of ∼ 0.1 °C for EBDW from the 1980s. For GSDW, south of the Fram Strait, we find a strong temperature increase of ∼ 0.4–0.5 °C for the same period. The different warming rates have led to GSDW becoming warmer than EBDW since ∼ 2017–2018. This means that the Greenland Sea is no longer a heat sink for the Arctic Ocean at depth but is rather a heat source. It is therefore possible that EBDW temperatures will increase faster in the future. |
format |
Text |
author |
Karam, Salar Heuzé, Céline Hoppmann, Mario Steur, Laura |
spellingShingle |
Karam, Salar Heuzé, Céline Hoppmann, Mario Steur, Laura Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait |
author_facet |
Karam, Salar Heuzé, Céline Hoppmann, Mario Steur, Laura |
author_sort |
Karam, Salar |
title |
Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait |
title_short |
Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait |
title_full |
Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait |
title_fullStr |
Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait |
title_full_unstemmed |
Continued warming of deep waters in the Fram Strait |
title_sort |
continued warming of deep waters in the fram strait |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-917-2024 https://os.copernicus.org/articles/20/917/2024/ |
genre |
Arctic Ocean Fram Strait Greenland Greenland Sea |
genre_facet |
Arctic Ocean Fram Strait Greenland Greenland Sea |
op_source |
eISSN: 1812-0792 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/os-20-917-2024 https://os.copernicus.org/articles/20/917/2024/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-917-2024 |
container_title |
Ocean Science |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
917 |
op_container_end_page |
930 |
_version_ |
1810430206169579520 |