Variability of water properties, currents and fluxes in Nares Strait, connecting the Arctic to the Atlantic Ocean ...

• Main Authors: Rabe, Berit, Münchow, Andreas, Johnson, Helen Louise, Melling, Humfrey
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: ASC 2013 - Theme session L 2024
• Subjects: Ecosystem observation, processes and dynamics; Arctic; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Greenland; Nares; Arctic Archipelago; Nares strait; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.24753753; https://ices-library.figshare.com/articles/conference_contribution/Variability_of_water_properties_currents_and_fluxes_in_Nares_Strait_connecting_the_Arctic_to_the_Atlantic_Ocean/24753753

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author. Enhanced delivery of fresh cold waters from the Arctic along Labrador contributes to vertical stratification as far south as the Mid-Atlantic Bight where interannual ecosystem variability appears to correlate with upstream conditions in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA). Nares Strait between Greenland and the CAA provides a seawater pathway between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. A mooring array across the strait has provided information on water properties, currents and fluxes from 2003 to 2012. These are strongly influenced by the sea ice state in the strait, which varies from mobile in summer to land-fast in winter caused by ice bridge formation to the south. The geostrophic freshwater flux shows fluctuations linked to change in weather and season (enhanced during mobile ice season). Change in the annual ice cover cycle, such as recent failures of ice bridge formation, greatly extends the mobile ice season. A future increase of ...