Articles | Volume 14, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1147-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1147-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
27 Sep 2018
Research article |
| 27 Sep 2018
| 27 Sep 2018
Does the East Greenland Current exist in the northern Fram Strait?
Maren Elisabeth Richter
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
now at: Department of Physics, University of Otago, 730 Cumberland Street, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Wilken-Jon von Appen
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
Claudia Wekerle
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
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Short summary
In the Fram Strait, Arctic Ocean outflow is joined by Atlantic Water (AW) that has not flowed through the Arctic Ocean. The confluence creates a density gradient which steepens and draws closer to the east Greenland shelf break from N to S. This brings the warm AW closer to the shelf break. South of 79° N, AW has reached the shelf break and the East Greenland Current has formed. When AW reaches the Greenland shelf it may propagate through troughs to glacier termini and contribute to glacier melt.
In the Fram Strait, Arctic Ocean outflow is joined by Atlantic Water (AW) that has not flowed...
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