Formation of Barents Sea Branch Water in the north-eastern Barents Sea

Polar research

Vidar S. Lien¹  Alexander G. Trofimov² 

[1] Department of OceanographyInstitute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 1870, NO-5817 Bergen, NorwayCorrespondence;Knipovich Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography6 Knipovich Street, RU-183763, Murmansk, Russia

关键词: Dense water formation;    Kara Sea;    deep water;    Atlantic Water;   

DOI  :  10.3402/polar.v32i0.18905

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

来源: Co-Action Publishing

【 摘 要 】

The Barents Sea throughflow accounts for approximately half of the Atlantic Water advection to the Arctic Ocean, while the other half flows through Fram Strait. Within the Barents Sea, the Atlantic Water undergoes considerable modifications before entering the Arctic Ocean through the St. Anna Trough. While the inflow area in the south-western Barents Sea is regularly monitored, oceanographic data from the outflow area to the north-east are very scarce. Here, we use conductivity, temperature and depth data from August/September 2008 to describe in detail the water masses present in the downstream area of the Barents Sea, their spatial distribution and transformations. Both Cold Deep Water, formed locally through winter convection and ice-freezing processes, and Atlantic Water, modified mainly through atmospheric cooling, contribute directly to the Barents Sea Branch Water. As a consequence, it consists of a dense core characterized by a temperature and salinity maximum associated with the Atlantic Water, ...

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC