Characterising marine heatwaves in the Svalbard Archipelago  and surrounding seas

Williams-Kerslake, Marianne; Langehaug, Helene R.; Skogseth, Ragnheid; Nilsen, Frank; Samuelsen, Annette; Gonzalez, Silvana; Keenlyside, Noel

doi:10.5194/os-22-587-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-587-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Special issue on ocean extremes (55th International Liége...

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-587-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

Research article

|

12 Feb 2026

Research article |

| 12 Feb 2026

Characterising marine heatwaves in the Svalbard Archipelago and surrounding seas

Marianne Williams-Kerslake, Helene R. Langehaug, Ragnheid Skogseth, Frank Nilsen, Annette Samuelsen, Silvana Gonzalez, and Noel Keenlyside

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-587-2026-supplement

Data sets

Arctic Ocean Physics Reanalysis E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00007

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during September 2005 to September 2006 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.176EEA39

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during September 2006 to September 2007 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.A1239CA3

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 9 Sep 2010 to 3 Sep 2011 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.B0E473C4

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 8 Sep 2011 to 3 Sep 2012 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.2BE7BDEE

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 6 Sep 2012 to 28 Aug 2013 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.A247E9A9

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 2 Sep 2013 to 26 Aug 2014 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.6813CE6D

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 31 Aug 2014 to 24 Aug 2015 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.11B7E849

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 31 Aug 2015 to 12 Aug 2016 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.21838303

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 19 Aug 2016 to 2 Oct 2017 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.CD7A2F7C

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 5 Oct 2017 to 25 Aug 2018 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2019.54DCD0C9

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-S) during 29 Aug 2018 to 6 Sep 2019 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2022.AEC34FDE

Mooring data from the Isfjorden Mouth - South (I-SM) during 06 Oct 2020 to 10 Oct 2021 R. Skogseth and P. G. Ellingsen https://doi.org/10.21334/NPOLAR.2022.42927488

Remote Sensing of Ocean Circulation og Environmental Mass Changes (REOCIRC), 2016 (Versjon 2) F. Nilsen https://doi.org/10.18712/NSD-NSD2756-V2

Hydrography and currents in Storfjorden (Svalbard) from the STEP 2016-2017 moorings F. Vivier et al. https://doi.org/10.17882/62632

Physical oceanography data from a mooring on Spitsbergenbanken in the north-western Barents Sea, September 2018 - November 2019 K. Kalhagen et al. https://doi.org/10.21335/NMDC-1780886855

Short summary

Marine heatwaves – periods of extreme ocean temperatures – are increasing globally, posing a threat to marine ecosystems. One region where a high number of marine heatwave events per year has been observed is around Svalbard. This study characterises past marine heatwave events in this region, including their extent in terms of both distance and depth. We identified eight events west of Svalbard that were largely driven by the movement of warmer water into the region by ocean currents.