OceanSITESby

Svein Østerhuswww.gfi.uib.no/~ngfso

• Station M (66N, 2E) Norwegian Sea

• North Atlantic Nordic Seas Exchanges

• Weddell Sea Ice Shelf Overflow (ISW) Overflow

Fresher intermediate waters in the Nordic SeasOcean weather station M (66 N, 2E) 1948-

2005•The longest deep-water record in the World. • Essential for climate research that measurements are continued

Note the freshening that starts around 1970 that gradually penetrates deeper into the water column.

Salinity anomalies at Ocean Weather Station M

Warmer deep waters in the Nordic Seas

Temperature anomalies at OWS M (66°N, 2°E)

2000 m

Status M (66N, 2E)

• The hydrographical program will continue unchanged (daily CTD casts)

• Data available after 1-2 months• A new monitoring mooring will be

deployed in 2006• Quality controlled time series (monthly

means 1948-2006) are in preparations to be publishes.

The North Atlantic Nordic Seas Exchanges

The Iceland Branch / Irminger Current west of Iceland

The Shetland Branch, Continental Slope Current through the Faroe-Shetland Channel

The Faroe Branch / Current over the Iceland-Faroe Ridge

MOEN

1994-2005

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 20060

5

10

15

Year

Vol

ume

Flu

x (S

v)

Figure 2.2.1 Total Volume Transport of Atlantic Water

Volume transport of Atlantic Water 1995-2005

Total=8.7

SC=4.2

FC=3.7

IC=0.8

Faroe Bank Channel monitoring

• 2 ADCP’s (75 kHz)• MicroCat’s • Seasonal CTD sections

Status North Atlantic Nordic Seas Exchanges

• Continue with reduced field activity

• New initiative for Denmark Strait Overflow monitoring (Iceland & Germany)

• A web page will be establish to take over for the MOEN (ASOF-E-EU), see www.gfi.uib.no/~ngfso projects

The Ice Shelf Water (ISW) monitoring stationin the southern Weddell Sea

DEEP WATER FO RM ATIO N IN THE WEDDELL SEA

C M R-IFIX

Ø ste rhus 981 1

Filchner Depression

1.6 ± 0.5 Sv ISW (Foldvik et al

2004)

ISW + WDW = 4 Sv WSBW (-0.8 C) WSBW → AABW

StatusSouthern Weddell Sea station

• The mooring station is operated by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR)

• The station is serviced biannually (last recovery/redeployment: Jan 2005)

• A new station is proposed as a part of our IPY initiative (www.gfi.uib.no/BIAC)

C o ntro lle r a nd Dua l Sa te llite Lin

k

Sa linity, Tem p e ra ture a nd Pre ssure (CTP) S

e nso r

Anta rc tic a

A tla ntic O c e a n

Ic e She et

Pa c ific O c e a n

Wed d ell Se a Ross Se a

C urre nt M e te rIFIX

Ind

uctiv

e O

ce

ano

gra

phi

c S

ens

or C

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IPY station on the Filchner-Ronne Ice shelf?

The role played in the climate system by the interaction between the ocean and Antarctic ice shelves is a key issue regarding future climate changes. To establish a long term (several decades) monitoring station on the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, in the southern Weddell Sea is proposed as a part of the IPY BIAC.

www.gfi.uib.no/BIAC