Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea
Citable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5724Location
Barents Sea Polar FrontDOI
10.1575/1912/5724Keyword
Ocean circulation; Oceanic mixing; Climatic changesAbstract
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.
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
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Suggested Citation
Thesis: Harris, Carolyn L., "Water mass distribution and Polar Front structure in the Southwestern Barents Sea", 1996-05, DOI:10.1575/1912/5724, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5724Related items
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