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Interannual changes in the overflow from the Nordic Seas into the Atlantic Ocean through Denmark Strait
Author(s) -
Macrander A.,
Send U.,
Valdimarsson H.,
Jónsson S.,
Käse R. H.
Publication year - 2005
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 - 10.1029/2004gl021463
Subject(s) - thermohaline circulation , north atlantic deep water , oceanography , sill , ridge , climatology , geology , shutdown of thermohaline circulation , gulf stream , ocean current , period (music) , environmental science , paleontology , physics , geochemistry , acoustics
The global thermohaline circulation is an important part of Earth's climate system. Cold, dense water formed in the Nordic Seas enters the Atlantic Ocean as overflows across the sills of the Greenland‐Scotland Ridge. The Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) is one of the main sources of North Atlantic Deep Water. Until now the DSO has been believed to be stable on interannual timescales. Here, for the first time, evidence is presented from a 4‐year program of observations showing that overflow transports in 1999/2000 were approximately 30% higher than previous estimates. Later, transports decreased remarkably during the observation period, coincident with a temporary temperature increase of about 0.5°C.