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Flows Through the Northern Channels in the North Atlantic

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Bottom Gravity Currents and Overflows in Deep Channels of the Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

We study the flows in the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone and Bight Fracture Zone in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the overflows in the Strait of Gibraltar, in the Strait of Denmark, Faroe Bank Channel, and in the Bear Island Trough. The flows are investigated on the basis of CTD/LADCP casts and moorings and review of previous publications. The Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone is the main pathway for deep water exchange across the Reykjanes Ridge, while the Bight, Maxwell, and Faraday fractures play secondary roles. We also investigate other northern regions. The cold dense water that is formed in the Greenland Sea overflows the ridge between Greenland and Iceland. It gives origin to the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The transport of Arctic waters through the Denmark Strait ranges between 2.0 and 3.5 Sv. No strong seasonal or interannual variability of water transport exists in this region, but large fluctuations were found on short time scales of a few days. The overflow over the Denmark Strait occurs in the form of large and cold lenses. These lenses are called boluses. This form of overflows of cold lenses water alternates with usual overflow currents. We analyzed CTD and LADCP measurements in the western Barents Sea in July–August 2017. We studied the water structure over a meridional section between Norway and Svalbard. The velocities of the bottom flow were measured on a mooring deployed in the deepest part of the Bear Island Trough. Velocity measurements were compared with the tidal velocities from satellite altimetry data. Despite strong barotropic tides in the region, the mean bottom flow was permanently directed from the Barents to the Norwegian Sea, which corresponds to the measured thermohaline structure of the deep waters.

With a contribution by Walter Zenk, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Department, Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Moscow, Russia

    Eugene G. Morozov, Roman Y. Tarakanov & Dmitry I. Frey

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  1. Eugene G. Morozov
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  2. Roman Y. Tarakanov
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  3. Dmitry I. Frey
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Morozov, E.G., Tarakanov, R.Y., Frey, D.I. (2021). Flows Through the Northern Channels in the North Atlantic. In: Bottom Gravity Currents and Overflows in Deep Channels of the Atlantic Ocean. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83074-8_9

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