Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011
We estimated the magnitude and composition of southward liquid freshwater transports in the East Greenland Current near 79° N in the Western Fram Strait between 1998 and 2011. Previous studies have found this region to be an important pathway for liquid freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean to the...
Published in: | Ocean Science |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2013
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023468 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023423/os-9-91-2013.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/9/91/2013/os-9-91-2013.pdf |
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article Verlagsveröffentlichung Rabe, B. Dodd, P. A. Hansen, E. Falck, E. Schauer, U. Mackensen, A. Beszczynska-Möller, A. Kattner, G. Rohling, E. J. Cox, K. Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 |
topic_facet |
article Verlagsveröffentlichung |
description |
We estimated the magnitude and composition of southward liquid freshwater transports in the East Greenland Current near 79° N in the Western Fram Strait between 1998 and 2011. Previous studies have found this region to be an important pathway for liquid freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean to the Nordic Seas and the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. Our transport estimates are based on six hydrographic surveys between June and September and concurrent data from moored current meters. We combined concentrations of liquid freshwater, meteoric water (river water and precipitation), sea ice melt and brine from sea ice formation, and Pacific Water, presented in Dodd et al. (2012), with volume transport estimates from an inverse model. The average of the monthly snapshots of southward liquid freshwater transports between 10.6° W and 4° E is 100 ± 23 mSv (3160 ± 730 km3 yr−1), relative to a salinity of 34.9. This liquid freshwater transport consists of about 130% water from rivers and precipitation (meteoric water), 30% freshwater from the Pacific, and −60% (freshwater deficit) due to a mixture of sea ice melt and brine from sea ice formation. Pacific Water transports showed the highest variation in time, effectively vanishing in some of the surveys. Comparison of our results to the literature indicates that this was due to atmospherically driven variability in the advection of Pacific Water along different pathways through the Arctic Ocean. Variations in most liquid freshwater component transports appear to have been most strongly influenced by changes in the advection of these water masses to the Fram Strait. However, the local dynamics represented by the volume transports influenced the liquid freshwater component transports in individual years, in particular those of sea ice melt and brine from sea ice formation. Our results show a similar ratio of the transports of meteoric water and net sea ice melt as previous studies. However, we observed a significant increase in this ratio between the surveys in 1998 and in 2009. This can be attributed to higher concentrations of sea ice melt in 2009 that may have been due to enhanced advection of freshwater from the Beaufort Gyre to the Fram Strait. Known trends and variability in the Arctic liquid freshwater inflow from rivers are not likely to have had a significant influence on the variation of liquid freshwater component transports between our surveys. On the other hand, known freshwater inflow variability from the Pacific could have caused some of the variation we observed in the Fram Strait. The apparent absence of a trend in southward liquid freshwater transports through the Fram Strait and recent evidence of an increase in liquid freshwater storage in the Arctic Ocean raise the question: how fast will the accumulated liquid freshwater be exported from the Arctic Ocean to the deep water formation regions in the North Atlantic and will an increased export occur through the Fram Strait. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rabe, B. Dodd, P. A. Hansen, E. Falck, E. Schauer, U. Mackensen, A. Beszczynska-Möller, A. Kattner, G. Rohling, E. J. Cox, K. |
author_facet |
Rabe, B. Dodd, P. A. Hansen, E. Falck, E. Schauer, U. Mackensen, A. Beszczynska-Möller, A. Kattner, G. Rohling, E. J. Cox, K. |
author_sort |
Rabe, B. |
title |
Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 |
title_short |
Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 |
title_full |
Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 |
title_fullStr |
Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 |
title_sort |
liquid export of arctic freshwater components through the fram strait 1998–2011 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023468 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023423/os-9-91-2013.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/9/91/2013/os-9-91-2013.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Pacific |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean East Greenland east greenland current Fram Strait Greenland Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean East Greenland east greenland current Fram Strait Greenland Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice |
op_relation |
Ocean Science -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2183769 -- http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/os/os.html -- 1812-0792 https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023468 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023423/os-9-91-2013.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/9/91/2013/os-9-91-2013.pdf |
op_rights |
uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 |
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Ocean Science |
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9 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
91 |
op_container_end_page |
109 |
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1766324235727273984 |
spelling |
ftnonlinearchiv:oai:noa.gwlb.de:cop_mods_00023468 2023-05-15T14:52:51+02:00 Liquid export of Arctic freshwater components through the Fram Strait 1998–2011 Rabe, B. Dodd, P. A. Hansen, E. Falck, E. Schauer, U. Mackensen, A. Beszczynska-Möller, A. Kattner, G. Rohling, E. J. Cox, K. 2013-01 electronic https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023468 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023423/os-9-91-2013.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/9/91/2013/os-9-91-2013.pdf eng eng Copernicus Publications Ocean Science -- http://www.bibliothek.uni-regensburg.de/ezeit/?2183769 -- http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/os/os.html -- 1812-0792 https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 https://noa.gwlb.de/receive/cop_mods_00023468 https://noa.gwlb.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/cop_derivate_00023423/os-9-91-2013.pdf https://os.copernicus.org/articles/9/91/2013/os-9-91-2013.pdf uneingeschränkt info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article Verlagsveröffentlichung article Text doc-type:article 2013 ftnonlinearchiv https://doi.org/10.5194/os-9-91-2013 2022-02-08T22:50:38Z We estimated the magnitude and composition of southward liquid freshwater transports in the East Greenland Current near 79° N in the Western Fram Strait between 1998 and 2011. Previous studies have found this region to be an important pathway for liquid freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean to the Nordic Seas and the North Atlantic subpolar gyre. Our transport estimates are based on six hydrographic surveys between June and September and concurrent data from moored current meters. We combined concentrations of liquid freshwater, meteoric water (river water and precipitation), sea ice melt and brine from sea ice formation, and Pacific Water, presented in Dodd et al. (2012), with volume transport estimates from an inverse model. The average of the monthly snapshots of southward liquid freshwater transports between 10.6° W and 4° E is 100 ± 23 mSv (3160 ± 730 km3 yr−1), relative to a salinity of 34.9. This liquid freshwater transport consists of about 130% water from rivers and precipitation (meteoric water), 30% freshwater from the Pacific, and −60% (freshwater deficit) due to a mixture of sea ice melt and brine from sea ice formation. Pacific Water transports showed the highest variation in time, effectively vanishing in some of the surveys. Comparison of our results to the literature indicates that this was due to atmospherically driven variability in the advection of Pacific Water along different pathways through the Arctic Ocean. Variations in most liquid freshwater component transports appear to have been most strongly influenced by changes in the advection of these water masses to the Fram Strait. However, the local dynamics represented by the volume transports influenced the liquid freshwater component transports in individual years, in particular those of sea ice melt and brine from sea ice formation. Our results show a similar ratio of the transports of meteoric water and net sea ice melt as previous studies. However, we observed a significant increase in this ratio between the surveys in 1998 and in 2009. This can be attributed to higher concentrations of sea ice melt in 2009 that may have been due to enhanced advection of freshwater from the Beaufort Gyre to the Fram Strait. Known trends and variability in the Arctic liquid freshwater inflow from rivers are not likely to have had a significant influence on the variation of liquid freshwater component transports between our surveys. On the other hand, known freshwater inflow variability from the Pacific could have caused some of the variation we observed in the Fram Strait. The apparent absence of a trend in southward liquid freshwater transports through the Fram Strait and recent evidence of an increase in liquid freshwater storage in the Arctic Ocean raise the question: how fast will the accumulated liquid freshwater be exported from the Arctic Ocean to the deep water formation regions in the North Atlantic and will an increased export occur through the Fram Strait. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean East Greenland east greenland current Fram Strait Greenland Nordic Seas North Atlantic Sea ice Niedersächsisches Online-Archiv NOA Arctic Arctic Ocean Greenland Pacific Ocean Science 9 1 91 109 |