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Improved transport estimate of the East Icelandic Current 2002–2012
Author(s) -
Macrander Andreas,
Valdimarsson Héðinn,
Jónsson Steingrímur
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: oceans
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9291
pISSN - 2169-9275
DOI - 10.1002/2013jc009517
Subject(s) - hydrography , current (fluid) , geostrophic wind , geostrophic current , oceanography , forcing (mathematics) , climatology , mooring , icelandic , salinity , environmental science , outflow , advection , arctic , geology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , thermodynamics
The East Icelandic Current (EIC) is one of the major export pathways from the Iceland Sea north of Iceland, carrying mostly cold and fresh waters of Arctic origin. In this study, volume and freshwater transports are estimated using current profiles and salinity time series from a mooring deployed from 2011 to 2012 over the insular slope northeast of Iceland. These data are extended by hydrographic sections spanning the entire EIC four times per year. In combination with altimetry, geostrophic current profiles of the whole section are obtained for the period 2002–2012. The data are analyzed with respect to volume and freshwater transport variability and their relation to atmospheric forcing. The observations show a mean transport of 0.75 ± 0.08 Sv, and a mean freshwater transport of 3.4 ± 0.3 mSv in the upper 170 m. There is large interannual variability which appears to depend more on local conditions rather than large‐scale atmospheric forcing. The freshwater transport is small compared to the export in the East Greenland Current.