The effects of the water flow through the Canadian Archipelago in a global ice-ocean model
Numerical experiments are conducted with a global ice-ocean model in order to evaluate the influence of the water flow from the Arctic Ocean to Baffin Bay through the Canadian Archipelago on the water-mass properties of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas and, more generally, on the global ocean circ...
Published in: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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Main Authors: | , , |
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Amer Geophysical Union
1997
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/46204 https://doi.org/10.1029/97GL01352 |
Summary: | Numerical experiments are conducted with a global ice-ocean model in order to evaluate the influence of the water flow from the Arctic Ocean to Baffin Bay through the Canadian Archipelago on the water-mass properties of the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas and, more generally, on the global ocean circulation. The results indicate that this flow plays a significant role in controlling the freshwater budget of the Arctic Ocean. When the Canadian Archipelago passage is open in the model, the Arctic pycnocline experiences a noticeable increase in salinity. Furthermore, the flow of relatively fresh Arctic waters through the passage yields a pronounced decrease of surface salinity and density in the Labrador Sea, which leads to a diminution of convective activity there. As a result, the North Atlantic Deep Water outflow in the model is reduced by about 5%. Deep convection in the Norwegian Sea exhibits almost no change, and this despite a weakening of the inflow of relatively fresh Arctic waters through Fram Strait. |
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