Physical oceanography during POLARSTERN cruise ARK-XVIII/1a

• Main Authors: Ronski, Stephanie, Budéus, Gereon
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2010
• Subjects: ARK-XVIII/1; AWI_PhyOce; Calculated; Calculated from conductivity; Computed; CTD; Sea-Bird SBE 911plus; CTD/Rosette; CTD-RO; Date/Time of event; Density; sigma-theta (0); DEPTH; water; Elevation of event; Event label; Greenland Sea; Iceland Sea; Latitude of event; Longitude of event; North Greenland Sea; Norwegian Sea; Physical Oceanography @ AWI; Polarstern; Pressure; PS62; PS62/004-1; PS62/012-1; PS62/012-4; PS62/017-3; PS62/019-1; PS62/022-1; PS62/025-1; PS62/026-2; PS62/032-3; PS62/042-2; PS62/047-1; PS62/055-1; PS62/059-1; PS62/062-1; PS62/063-1; PS62/064-1; PS62/065-1; PS62/066-1; PS62/067-1; PS62/068-1; PS62/069-1; PS62/070-1; PS62/071-1; Greenland; Berichte zur Polar- und Meeresforschung; Iceland; North Greenland; Reports on Polar and Marine Research
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.753139; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.753139

In spite of the lack of bottom reaching convection in the Greenland Sea since the 1980s, convection continues to ventilate the Greenland Gyre down to intermediate depth. The variability of this ventilation activity is determined here annually for eight winters according to a multiple criteria catalogue, applied to annual summer conductivity-temperature-depth transects along 75°N. The comparison of the ventilation depths with the meteorological forcing, the ice cover, and the stratification of the water column shows the decisive influence of the hydrographic structure in the upper and intermediate layers. Ice, on the other hand, is not necessary for convection to occur. Ice formation does not even lead to particularly deep convection. A stability maximum, which currently dominates the vertical structure of the water column at medium depth, limits the ventilation depths effectively.