Synoptic sections of the Denmark Strait Overflow
We report on a rapid high-resolution survey of the Denmark Strait overflow (DSO) as it crosses the sill, the first such program to incorporate full-water-column velocity profiles in addition to conventional hydrographic measurements. Seven transects with expendable profilers over the course of one w...
| Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AGU (American Geophysical Union)
2001
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/1949/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/1949/1/Girton01_grl.pdf https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL011970 |
| Summary: | We report on a rapid high-resolution survey of the Denmark Strait overflow (DSO) as it crosses the sill, the first such program to incorporate full-water-column velocity profiles in addition to conventional hydrographic measurements. Seven transects with expendable profilers over the course of one week are used to estimate volume transport as a function of density. Our observations reveal the presence of a strongly barotropic flow associated with the nearly-vertical front dividing the Arctic and Atlantic waters. The seven-section mean transport of water denser than σθ=27.8 is 2.7±0.6Sv, while the mean transport of water colder than 2.0°C is 3.8±0.8 Sv. Although this is larger than the 2.9 Sv of θ < 2°C water measured by a 1973 current meter array, we find that a sampling of our sections equivalent to the extent of that array also measures 2.9Sv of cold water. Both the structure and magnitude of the measured flow are reproduced well by a high-resolution numerical model of buoyancy-driven exchange with realistic topography. |
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