Oceanography of Nares Strait and Northern Bartin Bay in 1986 With Emphasis on Deep and Bottom Water Formation

• Main Authors: Bourke, Robert H., Addison, Victor G., Paquette, Robert G.
• Other Authors: Oceanography
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Geophysical Union 1989
• Subjects: Arctic; Baffin Bay; Kane; Nares; Smith Sound; Arctic Submarine Laboratory; Baffin; Kane Basin; Lincoln Sea; Nares strait; Smith sound
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10945/66378

The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1029/JC094iC06p08289 Temperatures and salinities were measured from northern Baffin Bay through Nares Strait to the southern edge of the Lincoln Sea in September 1986. The water properties and baroclinic circulation, in general, did not vary widely from earlier measurements, but close station spacing led to the recognition of the rapid rate of dilution of Arctic Intermediate Water as it debouchesinto deeper water from the southern end of Kane Basin. As a result, this intermediate water becomes a much less likely sourcefor the deep and bottom waters of Baffin Bay. The formation of deep and bottom waters more likely is initiated by the formation of cold, saline water in winter in the shallows of eastern Smith Sound under the thin ice of the North Water. This water then undergoes multicomponent mixing with the waters en route from its origin to the deep basin of Baffin Bay. Naval Postgraduate School Arctic Submarine Laboratory, NOSC, San Diego