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Hydrographic observations in Denmark Strait in fall 1997, and their implications for the entrainment into the overflow plume
Author(s) -
Rudels Bert,
Eriksson Patrick,
Grönvall Hannu,
Hietala Riikka,
Launiainen Jouko
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl900212
Subject(s) - plume , hydrography , sill , oceanography , geology , entrainment (biomusicology) , panache , water mass , current (fluid) , stratification (seeds) , salinity , mediterranean sea , north atlantic deep water , arctic , deep water , mediterranean climate , geochemistry , meteorology , geography , seed dormancy , philosophy , botany , germination , archaeology , dormancy , rhythm , biology , aesthetics
Denmark Strait is the most important exit for water masses formed in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea and supplies a substantial fraction of the North Atlantic Deep Water. Observations obtained from RV Aranda in August‐September 1997 indicate that the water crossing the 620m deep sill is mainly drawn from the intermediate waters of the East Greenland Current. The overflow plume was stratified and capped by a less saline layer as it descended beyond 2000m. The presence of a low salinity lid implies that entrainment of ambient water is small and that the downstream evolution of the plume characteristics is due to mixing, within the plume, between the initial overflow waters. Low salinity, but dense, water from the East Greenland Current flowing over the shelf may cross the shelf break south of the sill and add a less dense fraction to the overflow.