Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1996 The water mass distribution in the southwestern Barents Sea, the thermohaline structure of the western Barents S...
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
1996
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/5724 2023-05-15T14:59:57+02:00 Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea Harris, Carolyn L. Barents Sea Polar Front 1996-05 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5724 en_US eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5724 doi:10.1575/1912/5724 doi:10.1575/1912/5724 Ocean circulation Oceanic mixing Climatic changes Thesis 1996 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/5724 2022-05-28T22:58:47Z Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1996 The water mass distribution in the southwestern Barents Sea, the thermohaline structure of the western Barents Sea Polar Front, and the formation of local water masses are described based on an analysis of historical hydrographic data and a recent process-oriented field experiment. This study concentrated on the frontal region between Bj0rn0ya and Hopen Island where Arctic water is found on the Spitzbergen Bank and Atlantic Water in the Bear Island Trough and Hopen Trench. Distributions of Atlantic, Arctic, and Polar Front waters are consistent with topographic control of Atlantic water circulation. Seasonal buoyancy forcing disrupts the topographic control in the surface layer, altering the frontal structure, and affecting local water mass formation. In the winter, the topographic control is firmly established and both sides of the front are vertically well-mixed. Winter cooling creates sea-ice over Spitzbergen Bank and convectively formed Modified Atlantic Water in the Bear Island Trough and Hopen Trench. In the summer, heating melts the sea-ice, producing a surface meltwater pool that can cross the polar front, disrupting topographic control and substantially increasing the vertical thermohaline gradients in the frontal region. The meltwater pool produces the largest geostrophic shear in the region. Support for this work was provided by a Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and Office of Naval Research grant N00014- 90-J-1359. Thesis Arctic Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Barents Sea Bear Island Hopen island Sea ice Spitzbergen Hopen Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Arctic Barents Sea Bear Island ENVELOPE(-67.250,-67.250,-68.151,-68.151) Hopen ENVELOPE(9.279,9.279,63.379,63.379) Woods Hole, MA |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
op_collection_id |
ftwhoas |
language |
English |
topic |
Ocean circulation Oceanic mixing Climatic changes |
spellingShingle |
Ocean circulation Oceanic mixing Climatic changes Harris, Carolyn L. Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea |
topic_facet |
Ocean circulation Oceanic mixing Climatic changes |
description |
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution May 1996 The water mass distribution in the southwestern Barents Sea, the thermohaline structure of the western Barents Sea Polar Front, and the formation of local water masses are described based on an analysis of historical hydrographic data and a recent process-oriented field experiment. This study concentrated on the frontal region between Bj0rn0ya and Hopen Island where Arctic water is found on the Spitzbergen Bank and Atlantic Water in the Bear Island Trough and Hopen Trench. Distributions of Atlantic, Arctic, and Polar Front waters are consistent with topographic control of Atlantic water circulation. Seasonal buoyancy forcing disrupts the topographic control in the surface layer, altering the frontal structure, and affecting local water mass formation. In the winter, the topographic control is firmly established and both sides of the front are vertically well-mixed. Winter cooling creates sea-ice over Spitzbergen Bank and convectively formed Modified Atlantic Water in the Bear Island Trough and Hopen Trench. In the summer, heating melts the sea-ice, producing a surface meltwater pool that can cross the polar front, disrupting topographic control and substantially increasing the vertical thermohaline gradients in the frontal region. The meltwater pool produces the largest geostrophic shear in the region. Support for this work was provided by a Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship and Office of Naval Research grant N00014- 90-J-1359. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Harris, Carolyn L. |
author_facet |
Harris, Carolyn L. |
author_sort |
Harris, Carolyn L. |
title |
Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea |
title_short |
Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea |
title_full |
Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea |
title_fullStr |
Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea |
title_sort |
water mass distribution and polar front structure in the southwestern barents sea |
publisher |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
publishDate |
1996 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5724 |
op_coverage |
Barents Sea Polar Front |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-67.250,-67.250,-68.151,-68.151) ENVELOPE(9.279,9.279,63.379,63.379) |
geographic |
Arctic Barents Sea Bear Island Hopen |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Bear Island Hopen |
genre |
Arctic Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Barents Sea Bear Island Hopen island Sea ice Spitzbergen Hopen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Atlantic Arctic Atlantic-Arctic Barents Sea Bear Island Hopen island Sea ice Spitzbergen Hopen |
op_source |
doi:10.1575/1912/5724 |
op_relation |
WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5724 doi:10.1575/1912/5724 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/5724 |
op_publisher_place |
Woods Hole, MA |
_version_ |
1766332059276541952 |