The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing
Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V. , 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Progress In Oceanography 78 (2008): 58-77, doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006. The s...
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/2397 2023-05-15T15:15:47+02:00 The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing Sutherland, David A. Pickart, Robert S. 2008-03-12 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2397 en_US eng https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2397 Coastal currents East Greenland Current Sea ice Boundary currents Arctic freshwater flux Preprint 2008 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006 2022-05-28T22:57:35Z Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V. , 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Progress In Oceanography 78 (2008): 58-77, doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006. The subtidal circulation of the southeast Greenland shelf is described using a set of high-resolution hydrographic and velocity transects occupied in summer 2004. The main feature is the East Greenland Coastal Current (EGCC), a low-salinity, high-velocity jet with a wedge-shaped hydrographic structure characteristic of other surface buoyancydriven currents. The EGCC was observed along the entire Greenland shelf south of Denmark Strait, while the transect north of the strait showed only a weak shelf flow. This observation, in conjunction with water mass considerations and other supporting evidence, suggests that the EGCC is an inner branch of the East Greenland Current (EGC) that forms south of Denmark Strait. It is argued that bathymetric steering is the most likely reason why the EGC apparently bifurcates at this location. Repeat sections occupied at Cape Farewell between 1997 and 2004 show that the alongshelf wind stress can have a strong influence on the structure and strength of the EGCC and EGC on timescales of 2-3 days. Accounting for the wind-induced effects, the volume transport of the combined EGCC/EGC system is roughly constant (~2 Sv) over the study domain, from 68°N to Cape Farewell near 60°N. The corresponding freshwater transport increases by roughly 60% over this distance (59 to 96 mSv, referenced to a salinity of 34.8). This trend is consistent with a simple freshwater budget of the EGCC/EGC system that accounts for meltwater runoff, melting sea-ice and icebergs, and net precipitation minus evaporation. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation grant OCE-0450658. DS was also partially supported by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Academic Programs Office. Report Arctic Cape Farewell Denmark Strait East Greenland east greenland current Greenland Iceberg* Sea ice Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Arctic Greenland Progress in Oceanography 78 1 58 77 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Coastal currents East Greenland Current Sea ice Boundary currents Arctic freshwater flux |
spellingShingle |
Coastal currents East Greenland Current Sea ice Boundary currents Arctic freshwater flux Sutherland, David A. Pickart, Robert S. The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing |
topic_facet |
Coastal currents East Greenland Current Sea ice Boundary currents Arctic freshwater flux |
description |
Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V. , 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Progress In Oceanography 78 (2008): 58-77, doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006. The subtidal circulation of the southeast Greenland shelf is described using a set of high-resolution hydrographic and velocity transects occupied in summer 2004. The main feature is the East Greenland Coastal Current (EGCC), a low-salinity, high-velocity jet with a wedge-shaped hydrographic structure characteristic of other surface buoyancydriven currents. The EGCC was observed along the entire Greenland shelf south of Denmark Strait, while the transect north of the strait showed only a weak shelf flow. This observation, in conjunction with water mass considerations and other supporting evidence, suggests that the EGCC is an inner branch of the East Greenland Current (EGC) that forms south of Denmark Strait. It is argued that bathymetric steering is the most likely reason why the EGC apparently bifurcates at this location. Repeat sections occupied at Cape Farewell between 1997 and 2004 show that the alongshelf wind stress can have a strong influence on the structure and strength of the EGCC and EGC on timescales of 2-3 days. Accounting for the wind-induced effects, the volume transport of the combined EGCC/EGC system is roughly constant (~2 Sv) over the study domain, from 68°N to Cape Farewell near 60°N. The corresponding freshwater transport increases by roughly 60% over this distance (59 to 96 mSv, referenced to a salinity of 34.8). This trend is consistent with a simple freshwater budget of the EGCC/EGC system that accounts for meltwater runoff, melting sea-ice and icebergs, and net precipitation minus evaporation. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation grant OCE-0450658. DS was also partially supported by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Academic Programs Office. |
format |
Report |
author |
Sutherland, David A. Pickart, Robert S. |
author_facet |
Sutherland, David A. Pickart, Robert S. |
author_sort |
Sutherland, David A. |
title |
The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing |
title_short |
The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing |
title_full |
The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing |
title_fullStr |
The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing |
title_full_unstemmed |
The East Greenland Coastal Current : structure, variability, and forcing |
title_sort |
east greenland coastal current : structure, variability, and forcing |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2397 |
geographic |
Arctic Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Cape Farewell Denmark Strait East Greenland east greenland current Greenland Iceberg* Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Cape Farewell Denmark Strait East Greenland east greenland current Greenland Iceberg* Sea ice |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/2397 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006 |
container_title |
Progress in Oceanography |
container_volume |
78 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
58 |
op_container_end_page |
77 |
_version_ |
1766346127630663680 |