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Evidence of Greenland Sea water in the Iceland Basin
Author(s) -
Jeansson Emil,
Olsson K. Anders,
Messias MarieJosé,
Kasajima Yoshie,
Johannessen Truls
Publication year - 2009
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 - 10.1029/2009gl037988
Subject(s) - sill , tracer , geology , oceanography , groenlandia , structural basin , geomorphology , ice sheet , geochemistry , physics , nuclear physics
This study evaluates the presence of intermediate water from the Greenland Sea in the Iceland Basin deduced from the observed excess of the tracer sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ), released in the central Greenland Sea in 1996. The large tracer release experiment has served a unique opportunity to follow the spread of Greenland Sea intermediate water to the adjacent basins of the Nordic Seas and to the areas bordering this region. In the present study, using data from May–June 2001, the released tracer was detected at the sill in the Faroe Bank Channel and at several locations in the Iceland Basin of the North Atlantic, just downstream the sill and southeast of Iceland. The estimated excess of the released tracer at the Icelandic slope combined with reported values of the volume flow at this location suggest an annual transport rate of approximately 1.4 kg excess SF 6 . The results suggest an upper transit time from the central Greenland Sea to the area southeast of Iceland of approximately 4 years.