Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
Transport and Exchange Across the Fram Strait in 1997-2003 - Preliminary Results from the Mooring Arrays
Agnieszka Beszczynska-Moeller1, Eberhard Fahrbach2, Gerd Rohardt3, Ursula Schauer4
1Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrasse, Bremerhaven, 27568, Germany, Phone 49-47-148-3118, Fax 49-47-148-3117, abeszczynska@awi-bremerhaven.de
2Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrasse, Bremerhaven, 27568, Germany, Phone 49-471-483-1820, Fax 49-471-483-1425, efahrbach@awi-bremerhaven.de
3Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrasse, Bremerhaven, 27568, Germany, grohardt@awi-bremerhaven.de
4Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrase, Bremerhaven, 27568, Germany, Phone 49-714-831-1817, Fax 49-714-831-1425, uschauer@awi-bremerhaven.de
Since 1997 the volume, heat and salt transports across the Fram Strait have been measured as a part of the VEINS and ASOF-N projects. 14 current meter moorings with additional TS sensors and bottom pressure recorders were deployed at 78°55'N/79°N. Significant interannual changes were found in the structure of the Atlantic water domain. In the eastern Fram Strait two branches of the West Spitsbergen Current were observed with the main core of the Atlantic water flow over the upper continental slope and a weaker stream shifted offshore. Seasonal signal with maximum northward transport in winter was found in the eastern part of the strait.
Farther to the west, a width and intensity of the Return Atlantic Current, recirculating Atlantic water in the central Fram Strait, revealed strong variations between analysed years. Volume and heat transports were calculated for the investigated period and values obtained from direct measurements and estimated with use of the linear regression model were compared. Correlations of the observed flows with different atmospheric forcings were also presented with the highest values found in the eastern part of the Fram Strait.
Abstract Categories: Changes in the Sea
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