A study of the large scale circulation and water mass formation in the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean

• Main Author: Mauritzen, Cecilie
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 1993
• Subjects: Ocean circulation; Oceanic mixing; Water masses; Knorr (Ship : 1970-) Cruise; Hudson (Ship) Cruise; Meteor (Ship) Cruise; Polarstern (Ship) Cruise; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Barents Sea; Norwegian Sea; Greenland; Hudson; Denmark Strait; East Greenland; east greenland current; Fram Strait; Greenland Sea; Greenland-Scotland Ridge; Iceland; Nordic Seas; north atlantic current; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5571

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution October 1993 In this thesis, production of dense water that feeds the dense overflows across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge has been considered. A new circulation scheme is developed which is consistent with the water masses, currents and air-sea fluxes in the region, and with the important observation that the dense overflows show little or no seasonal or interannual variability. An inverse box model has been constructed that shows that the new circulation scheme is consistent with conservation statements for mass, heat and salt as well. According to the new circulation scheme the major buoyancy is lost in the North Atlantic Current, which enters the Norwegian Sea between Iceland and Scotland, and flows northward towards the Arctic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The transformation is due to a large net annual heat loss over the North Atlantic Current, combined with a long residence time (2-3 years) and a large surface area. After subduction, one branch of the North Atlantic Current enters the Arctic Ocean, is modified in hydrographic properties into those associated with the Denmark Strait Overflow Waters in the western North Atlantic, exits the Arctic Ocean in the western Fram Strait and flows with the East Greenland Current towards the Denmark Strait Another branch of the North Atlantic Current recirculates directly in the Fram Strait and flows towards the Denmark Strait with the East Greenland Current This branch will not sink to the bottom of the North Atlantic as it is less compressible than the Arctic branch. The third branch of the North Atlantic Current enters the Barents Sea, continues to lose buoyancy, and enters the Arctic Ocean at intermediate depth. This branch exits the Arctic Ocean in the western Fram Strait, circulates around the Greenland Sea, enters the Norwegian Sea, and flows towards the Frer¢-Shetland Channel. The ...