Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-20-521-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-20-521-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
11 Apr 2024
Research article |
| 11 Apr 2024
| 11 Apr 2024
Surface factors controlling the volume of accumulated Labrador Sea Water
Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Marie-José Messias
Department of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Herlé Mercier
Laboratoire d'Océanographie Physique et Spatiale, University of Brest, CNRS, Brest, France
David P. Marshall
Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Helen L. Johnson
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Short summary
We examine factors affecting variability in the volume of Labrador Sea Water (LSW), a water mass that is important for the uptake and storage of heat and carbon in the Atlantic Ocean. We find that LSW accumulated in the Labrador Sea exhibits a lagged response to remote conditions: surface wind stress, heat flux, and freshwater flux anomalies, especially along the pathways of the North Atlantic Current branches. We use our results to reconstruct and attribute historical changes in LSW volume.
We examine factors affecting variability in the volume of Labrador Sea Water (LSW), a water mass...
