North Atlantic Water in the Barents Sea Opening, 1997 to 1999

Abstract

North Atlantic Water (NAW) is an important source of heat and salt to the Nordic seas and the Arctic Ocean. To measure the transport and variability of one branch of NAW entering the Arctic, a transect across the entrance to the Barents Sea was occupied 13 times between July 1997 and November 1999, and hydrography and currents were measured. There is large variability between the cruises, but the mean currents and the hydrography show that the main inflow takes place in Bjørnøyrenna, with a transport of 1.6 Sv of NAW into the Barents Sea. Combining the flow field with measurements of temperature and salinity, this results in mean heat and salt transports by NAW into the Barents Sea of 3.9×1013 W and 5.7×107 kg s?1, respectively. The NAW core increased in temperature and salinity by 0.7 °C yr?1 and 0.04 yr?1, respectively, over the observation period. Variations in the transports of heat and salt are, however, dominated by the flow field, which did not exhibit a significant change.