Intermediate circulation in the Norwegian Sea
Henrik Soiland, Tom Rossby, Mark Prater
Institute of Marine Research
(Abstract received 08/14/2009 for session A)
ABSTRACT
To study the movement of Arctic Intermediate Waters (AIW) around the Norwegian Sea we deployed 26 isobaric RAFOS floats across the northern slope of the Iceland-Faroe Ridge. In recent times these waters have increasingly been replacing the Greenland Sea waters that in the past were the major contributor to the dense water overflow into the North Atlantic. The topographic control of the movement of these 800m deep floats was extraordinary. Floats deployed in waters shallower than 1500m without fail drifted into the North Atlantic whereas floats deployed in water deeper than 1500m turned north following isobaths anticlockwise around the Norwegian Sea. Topographic control of their movement meant that their fate was sealed long before they reached their branch point at the entry into the Shetland Channel. Flow at intermediate depth in the central Norwegian Basin is weakly to the North East with low EKE levels. The AIW flow north along the Norwegian continental margin takes place in a narrow band around the 2500m isobath and, significantly, is a fast track for moving AIW from the Norwegian Sea into the Lofoten Basin.
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