Articles | Volume 14, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1603-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-14-1603-2018
Research article
 | 
21 Dec 2018
Research article |  | 21 Dec 2018

Hydrography, transport and mixing of the West Spitsbergen Current: the Svalbard Branch in summer 2015

Eivind Kolås and Ilker Fer

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Measurements of ocean currents, stratification and microstructure collected northwest of Svalbard are used to characterize the evolution of the warm Atlantic current. The measured turbulent heat flux is too small to account for the observed cooling rate of the current. The estimated contribution of diffusion by eddies could be limited to one half of the observed heat loss. Mixing in the bottom boundary layer, driven by cross-slope flow of buoyant water, can be important.