Winter to summer oceanographic observations in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard
accepted paper International audience Oceanographic observations from the Eurasian Basin north of Svalbard collected betweenJanuary and June 2015 from the N-ICE2015 drifting expedition are presented. The unique winter observa-tions are a key contribution to existing climatologies of the Arctic Ocean...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2017
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-01492014 https://hal.science/hal-01492014/document https://hal.science/hal-01492014/file/JGR%20Oceans%20-%202017%20-%20Meyer%20-%20Winter%20to%20summer%20oceanographic%20observations%20in%20the%20Arctic%20Ocean%20north%20of%20Svalbard.pdf https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JC012391 |
Summary: | accepted paper International audience Oceanographic observations from the Eurasian Basin north of Svalbard collected betweenJanuary and June 2015 from the N-ICE2015 drifting expedition are presented. The unique winter observa-tions are a key contribution to existing climatologies of the Arctic Ocean, and show a $\sim$100 m deep wintermixed layer likely due to high sea ice growth rates in local leads. Current observations for the upper$\sim$ 200 m show mostly a barotropic flow, enhanced over the shallow Yermak Plateau. The two branches ofinflowing Atlantic Water are partly captured, confirming that the outer Yermak Branch follows the perimeterof the plateau, and the inner Svalbard Branch the coast. Atlantic Water observed to be warmer andshallower than in the climatology, is found directly below the mixed layer down to 800 m depth, and iswarmest along the slope, while its properties inside the basin are quite homogeneous. From late Mayonwards, the drift was continually close to the ice edge and a thinner surface mixed layer and shallowerAtlantic Water coincided with significant sea ice melt being observed. |
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