Climate variability on the Scotian Shelf during the 1990s ...

• Main Authors: Drinkwater, K. F., Petrie, B., Smith, P. C.
• Format: Report
• Language: unknown
• Published: ICES MSS Vol.219 - Hydrobiological variability in the ICES Area, 1990-1999 2023
• Subjects: Fisheries and aquaculture; ICES resources; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.19271735.v1; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/report/Climate_variability_on_the_Scotian_Shelf_during_the_1990s/19271735/1

The temperature and salinity conditions of the waters on the Scotian Shelf during the 1990s are described. Three major features are highlighted. First is the presence of cold subsurface waters throughout much of the 1990s in the northeast and nearshore regions of the Shelf. The principal cause of these cold conditions, initially established in the mid-1980s, is thought to be along-shelf advection from the Gulf of St Lawrence and off southern Newfoundland with the possibility of some contribution from local in situ cooling. The second major feature was caused by the arrival in 1997-1998 of cold Labrador Slope water along the shelf break, which subsequently flooded the lower layers of the central and southwestern regions of the Scotian Shelf. While this event produced the coldest near-bottom conditions in these Shelf regions since the 1960s it was of short duration, lasting only for approximately one year. Finally, the changes in the near-surface waters of the Scotian Shelf are described. O f particular ...