The Nordic Seas: An Integrated Perspective Oceanography, Climatology, Biogeochemistry, and Modeling

10.1029/gm158 ◽  
2005 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
1998 ◽  
Vol 17 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 963-985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Fronval ◽  
Eystein Jansen ◽  
Haflidi Haflidason ◽  
Hans Petter Sejrup

Nature ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 411 (6840) ◽  
pp. 927-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogi Hansen ◽  
William R. Turrell ◽  
Svein Østerhus
Keyword(s):  

2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henning A Bauch ◽  
Helmut Erlenkeuser ◽  
Jan P Helmke ◽  
Ulrich Struck

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 1629-1643 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Blaschek ◽  
H. Renssen

Abstract. The relatively warm early Holocene climate in the Nordic Seas, known as the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM), is often associated with an orbitally forced summer insolation maximum at 10 ka BP. The spatial and temporal response recorded in proxy data in the North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas reveals a complex interaction of mechanisms active in the HTM. Previous studies have investigated the impact of the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS), as a remnant from the previous glacial period, altering climate conditions with a continuous supply of melt water to the Labrador Sea and adjacent seas and with a downwind cooling effect from the remnant LIS. In our present work we extend this approach by investigating the impact of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) on the early Holocene climate and the HTM. Reconstructions suggest melt rates of 13 mSv for 9 ka BP, which result in our model in an ocean surface cooling of up to 2 K near Greenland. Reconstructed summer SST gradients agree best with our simulation including GIS melt, confirming that the impact of the early Holocene GIS is crucial for understanding the HTM characteristics in the Nordic Seas area. This implies that modern and near-future GIS melt can be expected to play an active role in the climate system in the centuries to come.


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 2685-2703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Signe Aaboe ◽  
Ole Anders Nøst

Abstract A linear diagnostic model, solving for the time-mean large-scale circulation in the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean, is presented. Solutions on depth contours that close within the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean are found from vorticity balances integrated over the areas enclosed by the contours. Climatological data for wind stress and hydrography are used as input to the model, and the bottom geostrophic flow is assumed to follow depth contours. Comparison against velocity observations shows that the simplified dynamics in the model capture many aspects of the large-scale circulation. Special attention is given to the dynamical effects of an along-isobath varying bottom density, which leads to a transformation between barotropic and baroclinic transport. Along the continental slope, enclosing both the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean, the along-slope barotropic transport has a maximum in the Nordic seas and a minimum in the Canadian Basin with a difference of 9 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1) between the two. This is caused by the relatively lower bottom densities in the Canadian Basin compared to the Nordic seas and suggests that most of the barotropic transport entering the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait is transformed to baroclinic transport. A conversion from barotropic to baroclinic flow may be highly important for the slope–basin exchange in the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean. The model has obvious shortcomings due to its simplicity. However, the simplified physics and the agreement with observations make this model an excellent framework for understanding the large-scale circulation in the Nordic seas and Arctic Ocean.


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