Present-day manifestation of the Nordic Seas Overflows

• Main Authors: Quadfasel, Detlef, Käse, Rolf H.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: AGU (American Geophysical Union) 2007
• Subjects: Greenland; Greenland-Scotland Ridge; Nordic Seas; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/29766/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/29766/1/Quadfasel_Kase13.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/173GM07

Dense Nordic waters enter the North Atlantic through passages in the Greenland-Scotland Ridge at a mean rate of 6 Sv. Subsequent entrainment of ambient water into the sinking plumes downstream of the sills approximately double this flux. Decade-long observations show these fluxes to be stable with no discernible trends. Hydraulic control of the overflows and the buffering effect of the Nordic basins effectively filter out short-term variability of dense water production associated with white noise North Atlantic Oscillation forcing. Simulations with directly forced and coupled atmosphere-ocean models show, under present climate conditions, overflow variability on multi-decadal time scales but no longterm trends.