Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective
Cascading of dense water from the shelf to deeper layers of the adjacent ocean basin has been observed in several locations around the world. The West Greenland Shelf (WGS), however, is a region where this process has never been documented. In this study, we use a numerical model with a 1/48 resolut...
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ftunivalberta:oai:era.library.ualberta.ca:5d438ba0-75bc-4232-bc94-2403a0aab287 2024-06-23T07:50:40+00:00 Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective Marson, Juliana M. Myers, Paul G. Hu, Xianmin Petrie, Brian Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko Lee, Craig M. 2017-01-01 https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/5d438ba0-75bc-4232-bc94-2403a0aab287 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-yrhc-a285 English eng https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/5d438ba0-75bc-4232-bc94-2403a0aab287 doi:10.7939/r3-yrhc-a285 © 2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Baffin Bay Davis Strait Dense Water Article (Published) 2017 ftunivalberta https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-yrhc-a285 2024-06-03T03:09:00Z Cascading of dense water from the shelf to deeper layers of the adjacent ocean basin has been observed in several locations around the world. The West Greenland Shelf (WGS), however, is a region where this process has never been documented. In this study, we use a numerical model with a 1/48 resolution to determine (i) if cascading could happen from the WGS; (ii) where and when it could take place; (iii) the forcings that induce or halt this process; and (iv) the path of the dense plume. Results show cascading happening off the WGS at Davis Strait. Dense waters form there due to brine rejection and slide down the slope during spring. Once the dense plume leaves the shelf, it gradually mixes with waters of similar density and moves northward into Baffin Bay. Our simulation showed events happening between 2003–2006 and during 2014; but no plume was observed in the simulation between 2007 and 2013. We suggest that the reason why cascading was halted in this period is related to: the increased freshwater transport from the Arctic Ocean through Fram Strait; the additional sea ice melting in the region; and the reduced presence of Irminger Water at Davis Strait during fall/early winter. Although observations at Davis Strait show that our simulation usually overestimates the seasonal range of temperature and salinity, they agree with the overall variability captured by the model. This suggests that cascades have the potential to develop on the WGS, albeit less dense than the ones estimated by the simulation. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Davis Strait Fram Strait Greenland Sea ice University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive Arctic Arctic Ocean Baffin Bay Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalberta |
language |
English |
topic |
Baffin Bay Davis Strait Dense Water |
spellingShingle |
Baffin Bay Davis Strait Dense Water Marson, Juliana M. Myers, Paul G. Hu, Xianmin Petrie, Brian Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko Lee, Craig M. Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective |
topic_facet |
Baffin Bay Davis Strait Dense Water |
description |
Cascading of dense water from the shelf to deeper layers of the adjacent ocean basin has been observed in several locations around the world. The West Greenland Shelf (WGS), however, is a region where this process has never been documented. In this study, we use a numerical model with a 1/48 resolution to determine (i) if cascading could happen from the WGS; (ii) where and when it could take place; (iii) the forcings that induce or halt this process; and (iv) the path of the dense plume. Results show cascading happening off the WGS at Davis Strait. Dense waters form there due to brine rejection and slide down the slope during spring. Once the dense plume leaves the shelf, it gradually mixes with waters of similar density and moves northward into Baffin Bay. Our simulation showed events happening between 2003–2006 and during 2014; but no plume was observed in the simulation between 2007 and 2013. We suggest that the reason why cascading was halted in this period is related to: the increased freshwater transport from the Arctic Ocean through Fram Strait; the additional sea ice melting in the region; and the reduced presence of Irminger Water at Davis Strait during fall/early winter. Although observations at Davis Strait show that our simulation usually overestimates the seasonal range of temperature and salinity, they agree with the overall variability captured by the model. This suggests that cascades have the potential to develop on the WGS, albeit less dense than the ones estimated by the simulation. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marson, Juliana M. Myers, Paul G. Hu, Xianmin Petrie, Brian Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko Lee, Craig M. |
author_facet |
Marson, Juliana M. Myers, Paul G. Hu, Xianmin Petrie, Brian Azetsu-Scott, Kumiko Lee, Craig M. |
author_sort |
Marson, Juliana M. |
title |
Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective |
title_short |
Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective |
title_full |
Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective |
title_fullStr |
Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cascading off the West Greenland Shelf: A numerical perspective |
title_sort |
cascading off the west greenland shelf: a numerical perspective |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/5d438ba0-75bc-4232-bc94-2403a0aab287 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-yrhc-a285 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Baffin Bay Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Baffin Bay Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Davis Strait Fram Strait Greenland Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Baffin Bay Baffin Bay Baffin Davis Strait Fram Strait Greenland Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/5d438ba0-75bc-4232-bc94-2403a0aab287 doi:10.7939/r3-yrhc-a285 |
op_rights |
© 2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-yrhc-a285 |
_version_ |
1802641584997531648 |