Tomographic Observations of Deep Convection and the Thermal Evolution of the Greenland Sea Gyre 1988-1989.

The Greenland Sea Gyre is studied using results from the 1988-89 Greenland Sea Tomography Experiment. Thermal evolution of the gyre center divides into three periods: a preconditioning phase, a deep mixing phase, and a restratification phase. During preconditioning, ice forms and rejects brine into...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pawlowicz, Ryszard A.
Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1994
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
Meteorology
*OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA
*TOMOGRAPHY
*SEA ICE
*GREENLAND SEA
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
OCEAN CURRENTS
OCEAN SURFACE
COMPARISON
THESES
ICE FORMATION
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SURFACE WATERS
CLIMATE
CONVECTION(HEAT TRANSFER)
MIXED LAYER(MARINE)
SALINITY
HEAT FLUX
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS
STRATIFICATION
MARINE METEOROLOGY
WATER MASSES
DEEP WATER
OPEN WATER
ARCTIC REGIONS
14
Arctic
Greenland
South Ice
Greenland Sea
Ice
permafrost
Sea ice
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA289104
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA289104
Description
Summary:The Greenland Sea Gyre is studied using results from the 1988-89 Greenland Sea Tomography Experiment. Thermal evolution of the gyre center divides into three periods: a preconditioning phase, a deep mixing phase, and a restratification phase. During preconditioning, ice forms and rejects brine into the surface waters, enabling destabilization of the water column. The onset of the deep mixing phase occurs after ice formation in the gyre center stops, resulting in an area of open water where large heat fluxes can occur. In surrounding regions, including the odden region to the south, ice is still being formed, and the mixed layer does not deepen significantly. The effects of advection are deduced from heat and salt budgets, and appear to be important only during the restratification phase for intermediate depths, and only during the summer for the surface waters. Dynamical processes for bringing the Arctic Intermediate Water (AIW) to the surface in order to form deep water are not needed in this scenario, rather the surface waters are modified until they match the density of the AIW after which surface cooling drives convection. Also supported by grant N00014-87-K-0017. Prepared in cooperation wth Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

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