Wind‐Driven Coastal Upwelling and Downwelling in the Shelfbreak East Greenland Current

The East Greenland Current is a major pathway for freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean and for the transport of dense overflow waters toward the North Atlantic. We use moored measurements from the East Greenland Current north of Denmark Strait from October 2011 to April 2012 to analyze the wind‐driven variability of the shelfbreak branch of this current system. By combining the moored data with atmospheric reanalysis data we found that coastal upwelling and downwelling take place in the shelfbreak East Greenland Current throughout winter. In total, upwelling and downwelling events occur around five times per month, and these events modulate the volume transport and redistribute water masses. Specifically, we find that upwelling may lead to a deposition of dense water masses on the shelf and to an offshore transport of freshwater, while downwelling events are associated with a considerable increase in along‐stream freshwater transport. Based on wind patterns and wind‐driven ocean variability along the east Greenland coast, the integrated effect of these episodes is expected to be substantial.