| Summary: | Three hydrographic sections in the Barents Sea, Fugløya-Bjørnøya (Bear Island), Vardø-N (along 3l°l3'E) and Sem Islands-N (along 37°20'E), have been observed in order to study climatic variations. Before 1977 the sections were worked regular only once a year, but since 1977 the three sections have been worked six, four and two times each year respectively. Mean values of temperature and salinity have been established for different parts of the sections in 3-5 depth layers, depending on the depth of the section. The most outstanding feature is a minimum in both temperature and salinity in the years 1978 and 1979. In the section Fugløya-Bjørnøya the mean salinity in all depth layers was below 35.0 °/oo those years, and this is the lowest salinity values ever observed in this section. The development in the last years clearly indicate increasing values of both temperature and salinity in the Atlantic inflow to the Barents Sea, In the eastern part of the Barents Sea, however, this increase is not yet so clear as in the western part.
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