Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V. , 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Progress In Oceanography 78 (2008): 58-77, doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2007.09.006.
Description:
The subtidal circulation of the southeast Greenland shelf is described using a set
of high-resolution hydrographic and velocity transects occupied in summer 2004. The
main feature is the East Greenland Coastal Current (EGCC), a low-salinity, high-velocity
jet with a wedge-shaped hydrographic structure characteristic of other surface buoyancydriven
currents. The EGCC was observed along the entire Greenland shelf south of
Denmark Strait, while the transect north of the strait showed only a weak shelf flow. This
observation, in conjunction with water mass considerations and other supporting
evidence, suggests that the EGCC is an inner branch of the East Greenland Current
(EGC) that forms south of Denmark Strait. It is argued that bathymetric steering is the
most likely reason why the EGC apparently bifurcates at this location. Repeat sections
occupied at Cape Farewell between 1997 and 2004 show that the alongshelf wind stress
can have a strong influence on the structure and strength of the EGCC and EGC on
timescales of 2-3 days. Accounting for the wind-induced effects, the volume transport of
the combined EGCC/EGC system is roughly constant (~2 Sv) over the study domain,
from 68°N to Cape Farewell near 60°N. The corresponding freshwater transport increases
by roughly 60% over this distance (59 to 96 mSv, referenced to a salinity of 34.8). This
trend is consistent with a simple freshwater budget of the EGCC/EGC system that
accounts for meltwater runoff, melting sea-ice and icebergs, and net precipitation minus
evaporation.
Description:
This work was funded by the National Science Foundation grant OCE-0450658. DS was also partially supported by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Academic Programs Office.
Keywords:
Coastal currents
;
East Greenland Current
;
Sea ice
;
Boundary currents
;
Arctic freshwater flux
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
Format:
application/pdf
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