Vertical redistribution of principle water masses on the Northeast Greenland Shelf

The Northeast Greenland shelf (NEGS) is a recipient of Polar Water (PW) from the Arctic Ocean, Greenland Ice Sheet melt, and Atlantic Water (AW). Here, we compile hydrographical measurements to quantify long-term changes in fjords and coastal waters. We find a profound change in the vertical distrib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Gjelstrup, Caroline V.B., Sejr, Mikael K., de Steur, Laura, Schou Christiansen, Jørgen, Granskog, Mats A., Koch, Boris P., Møller, Eva Friis, Winding, Mie H.S., Stedmon, Colin A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2022
Subjects:
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Barents Sea
Greenland
Fram Strait
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10037/28015
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35413-z
Description
Summary:The Northeast Greenland shelf (NEGS) is a recipient of Polar Water (PW) from the Arctic Ocean, Greenland Ice Sheet melt, and Atlantic Water (AW). Here, we compile hydrographical measurements to quantify long-term changes in fjords and coastal waters. We find a profound change in the vertical distribution of water masses, with AW shoaling >60 m and PW thinning >50 m since early 2000’s. The properties of these waters have also changed. AW is now 1 °C warmer and the salinity of surface waters and PW are 1.8 and 0.68 lower, respectively. The AW changes have substantially weakened stratification south of ~74°N, indicating increased accessibility of heat and potentially nutrients associated with AW. The Atlantification earlier reported for the eastern Fram Strait and Barents Sea region has also propagated to the NEGS. The increased presence of AW, is an important driver for regional change leading to a likely shift in ecosystem structure and function.

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