Premium
The magnitude of river flow to the Arctic Ocean: dependence on contributing area
Author(s) -
Prowse T. D,
Flegg P. O
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/1099-1085(200011/12)14:16/17<3185::aid-hyp170>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - magnitude (astronomy) , environmental science , drainage basin , arctic , the arctic , discharge , inflow , freshwater inflow , catchment area , climatology , oceanography , hydrology (agriculture) , physical geography , geology , salinity , geography , physics , cartography , geotechnical engineering , astronomy
The export of freshwater from the Arctic Ocean (AO) is an important modifier of themohaline circulation in the North Atlantic and ultimately global climate. Arctic river discharge is known to be the most important source of freshwater to the AO but considerable variation about its magnitude exists in the literature. A reanalysis of all available data showed that the major source of variation is differences in the geographical definition of the receiving body. The contributing area to inflow relationship was also found to be remarkably linear for the major spatial definitions of the AO “catchment”. Precise catchment and receiving area boundaries of the AO need to be properly defined before freshwater components are calculated or compared.