Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland
Warm subtropical-origin Atlantic water flows northward across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the Nordic Seas, where it relinquishes heat to the atmosphere and gradually transforms into dense Atlantic-origin water. Returning southward along east Greenland, this water mass is situated beneath a lay...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1956/17977 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 |
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ftunivbergen:oai:bora.uib.no:1956/17977 2023-05-15T16:03:36+02:00 Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland Våge, Kjetil Papritz, Lukas Håvik, Lisbeth Spall, Michael A. Moore, George William Kent 2018-04-10T16:42:23Z application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1956/17977 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 eng eng Nature Publishing Group Norges forskningsråd: 231647 urn:issn:2041-1723 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/17977 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 cristin:1578686 Attribution CC BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Copyright 2017 The Author(s) Nature Communications Peer reviewed Journal article 2018 ftunivbergen https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 2023-03-14T17:39:47Z Warm subtropical-origin Atlantic water flows northward across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the Nordic Seas, where it relinquishes heat to the atmosphere and gradually transforms into dense Atlantic-origin water. Returning southward along east Greenland, this water mass is situated beneath a layer of cold, fresh surface water and sea ice. Here we show, using measurements from autonomous ocean gliders, that the Atlantic-origin water was re-ventilated while transiting the western Iceland Sea during winter. This re-ventilation is a recent phenomenon made possible by the retreat of the ice edge toward Greenland. The fresh surface layer that characterises this region in summer is diverted onto the Greenland shelf by enhanced onshore Ekman transport induced by stronger northerly winds in fall and winter. Severe heat loss from the ocean offshore of the ice edge subsequently triggers convection, which further transforms the Atlantic-origin water. This re-ventilation is a counterintuitive occurrence in a warming climate, and highlights the difficulties inherent in predicting the behaviour of the complex coupled climate system. publishedVersion Article in Journal/Newspaper East Greenland Greenland Greenland-Scotland Ridge Iceland Nordic Seas Sea ice University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) Greenland Nature Communications 9 1 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Bergen: Bergen Open Research Archive (BORA-UiB) |
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ftunivbergen |
language |
English |
description |
Warm subtropical-origin Atlantic water flows northward across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the Nordic Seas, where it relinquishes heat to the atmosphere and gradually transforms into dense Atlantic-origin water. Returning southward along east Greenland, this water mass is situated beneath a layer of cold, fresh surface water and sea ice. Here we show, using measurements from autonomous ocean gliders, that the Atlantic-origin water was re-ventilated while transiting the western Iceland Sea during winter. This re-ventilation is a recent phenomenon made possible by the retreat of the ice edge toward Greenland. The fresh surface layer that characterises this region in summer is diverted onto the Greenland shelf by enhanced onshore Ekman transport induced by stronger northerly winds in fall and winter. Severe heat loss from the ocean offshore of the ice edge subsequently triggers convection, which further transforms the Atlantic-origin water. This re-ventilation is a counterintuitive occurrence in a warming climate, and highlights the difficulties inherent in predicting the behaviour of the complex coupled climate system. publishedVersion |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Våge, Kjetil Papritz, Lukas Håvik, Lisbeth Spall, Michael A. Moore, George William Kent |
spellingShingle |
Våge, Kjetil Papritz, Lukas Håvik, Lisbeth Spall, Michael A. Moore, George William Kent Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland |
author_facet |
Våge, Kjetil Papritz, Lukas Håvik, Lisbeth Spall, Michael A. Moore, George William Kent |
author_sort |
Våge, Kjetil |
title |
Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland |
title_short |
Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland |
title_full |
Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland |
title_fullStr |
Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east Greenland |
title_sort |
ocean convection linked to the recent ice edge retreat along east greenland |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1956/17977 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
East Greenland Greenland Greenland-Scotland Ridge Iceland Nordic Seas Sea ice |
genre_facet |
East Greenland Greenland Greenland-Scotland Ridge Iceland Nordic Seas Sea ice |
op_source |
Nature Communications |
op_relation |
Norges forskningsråd: 231647 urn:issn:2041-1723 https://hdl.handle.net/1956/17977 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 cristin:1578686 |
op_rights |
Attribution CC BY http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Copyright 2017 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766399293220978688 |