Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea
The Labrador Sea is one of a small number of deep convection sites in the North Atlantic that contribute to the meridional overturning circulation. Buoyancy is lost from surface waters during winter, allowing the formation of dense deep water. During the last few decades, mass loss from the Greenlan...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:bf2f1d56974042a2bcffbc0722526300 2023-05-15T15:10:15+02:00 Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea L. M. Schulze Chretien E. Frajka-Williams 2018-10-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1247-2018 https://www.ocean-sci.net/14/1247/2018/os-14-1247-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/bf2f1d56974042a2bcffbc0722526300 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/os-14-1247-2018 1812-0784 1812-0792 https://www.ocean-sci.net/14/1247/2018/os-14-1247-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/bf2f1d56974042a2bcffbc0722526300 undefined Ocean Science, Vol 14, Pp 1247-1264 (2018) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2018 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1247-2018 2023-01-22T19:12:17Z The Labrador Sea is one of a small number of deep convection sites in the North Atlantic that contribute to the meridional overturning circulation. Buoyancy is lost from surface waters during winter, allowing the formation of dense deep water. During the last few decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, releasing freshwater into the high-latitude North Atlantic. This and the enhanced Arctic freshwater export in recent years have the potential to add buoyancy to surface waters, slowing or suppressing convection in the Labrador Sea. However, the impact of freshwater on convection is dependent on whether or not it can escape the shallow, topographically trapped boundary currents encircling the Labrador Sea. Previous studies have estimated the transport of freshwater into the central Labrador Sea by focusing on the role of eddies. Here, we use a Lagrangian approach by tracking particles in a global, eddy-permitting (1∕12°) ocean model to examine where and when freshwater in the surface 30 m enters the Labrador Sea basin. We find that 60 % of the total freshwater in the top 100 m enters the basin in the top 30 m along the eastern side. The year-to-year variability in freshwater transport from the shelves to the central Labrador Sea, as found by the model trajectories in the top 30 m, is dominated by wind-driven Ekman transport rather than eddies transporting freshwater into the basin along the northeast. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet Labrador Sea North Atlantic Unknown Arctic Greenland Ocean Science 14 5 1247 1264 |
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English |
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envir geo L. M. Schulze Chretien E. Frajka-Williams Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
The Labrador Sea is one of a small number of deep convection sites in the North Atlantic that contribute to the meridional overturning circulation. Buoyancy is lost from surface waters during winter, allowing the formation of dense deep water. During the last few decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, releasing freshwater into the high-latitude North Atlantic. This and the enhanced Arctic freshwater export in recent years have the potential to add buoyancy to surface waters, slowing or suppressing convection in the Labrador Sea. However, the impact of freshwater on convection is dependent on whether or not it can escape the shallow, topographically trapped boundary currents encircling the Labrador Sea. Previous studies have estimated the transport of freshwater into the central Labrador Sea by focusing on the role of eddies. Here, we use a Lagrangian approach by tracking particles in a global, eddy-permitting (1∕12°) ocean model to examine where and when freshwater in the surface 30 m enters the Labrador Sea basin. We find that 60 % of the total freshwater in the top 100 m enters the basin in the top 30 m along the eastern side. The year-to-year variability in freshwater transport from the shelves to the central Labrador Sea, as found by the model trajectories in the top 30 m, is dominated by wind-driven Ekman transport rather than eddies transporting freshwater into the basin along the northeast. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
L. M. Schulze Chretien E. Frajka-Williams |
author_facet |
L. M. Schulze Chretien E. Frajka-Williams |
author_sort |
L. M. Schulze Chretien |
title |
Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea |
title_short |
Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea |
title_full |
Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea |
title_fullStr |
Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the Labrador Sea |
title_sort |
wind-driven transport of fresh shelf water into the upper 30 m of the labrador sea |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1247-2018 https://www.ocean-sci.net/14/1247/2018/os-14-1247-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/bf2f1d56974042a2bcffbc0722526300 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet Labrador Sea North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland Ice Sheet Labrador Sea North Atlantic |
op_source |
Ocean Science, Vol 14, Pp 1247-1264 (2018) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/os-14-1247-2018 1812-0784 1812-0792 https://www.ocean-sci.net/14/1247/2018/os-14-1247-2018.pdf https://doaj.org/article/bf2f1d56974042a2bcffbc0722526300 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1247-2018 |
container_title |
Ocean Science |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1247 |
op_container_end_page |
1264 |
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1766341303252025344 |