Nilsson
Johan
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Liquid freshwater transport and Polar Surface Water characteristics in the East Greenland Current during the AO-02 Oden expedition
Nilsson
Johan
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Dynamical features of the East Greenland Current (EGC) are synthesized from a
survey conducted by the Swedish icebreaker Oden during the International Arctic
Ocean - 02 expedition (AO-02) in May 2002 with emphasis on the liquid freshwa-
ter transport and Polar Surface Water. The data include hydrography and lowered
Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (LADCP) velocities in eight transects along the
EGC, from the Fram Strait in the north to the Denmark Strait in the south. The
survey reveals a strong confinement of the low-salinity polar water in the EGC to
the continental slope/shelf—a feature of relevance for the stability of the thermo-
haline circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean. The southward transport of liquid
freshwater in the EGC was found to vary considerably between the sections, rang-
ing between 0.01 and 0.1 Sverdrup. Computations based on geostrophic as well as
LADCP velocities give a section-averaged southward freshwater transport of 0.06
Sverdrup in the EGC during May 2002. Furthermore, Oden data suggest that the
liquid freshwater transport was as large north of the Fram Strait as it was south of
the Denmark Strait.