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Extreme High Greenland Blocking Index Leads to the Reversal of Davis and Nares Strait Net Transport Toward the Arctic Ocean
Author(s) -
Myers Paul G.,
Castro de la Guardia Laura,
Fu Chuanshuai,
Gillard Laura C.,
Grivault Nathan,
Hu Xianmin,
Lee Craig M.,
Moore G. W. K.,
Pennelly Clark,
Ribergaard Mads Hvid,
Romanski Joy
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2021gl094178
Subject(s) - oceanography , bay , geology , arctic , greenland ice sheet , thermohaline circulation , climatology , ice sheet
Abstract Baffin Bay exports Arctic Water to the North Atlantic while receiving northward flowing Atlantic Water. Warm Atlantic Water has impacted the retreat of tidewater glaciers draining the Greenland Ice Sheet. Periods of enhanced Atlantic Water transport into Baffin Bay have been observed, but the oceanic processes are still not fully explained. At the end of 2010 the net transport at Davis Strait, the southern gateway to Baffin Bay, reversed from southward to northward for a month, leading to significant northward oceanic heat transport into Baffin Bay. This was associated with an extreme high in the Greenland Blocking Index and a stormtrack path that shifted away from Baffin Bay. Thus fewer cyclones in the Irminger Sea resulted in less frequent northerly winds along the western coast of Greenland, allowing anomalous northward penetration of warm waters, reversing the volume and heat transport at Davis Strait.