A Lagrangian Study of the Iceland-Faroe Front, a Major Link Between the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

0137037 Rossby This is a cooperative effort with the Bjerknes Center for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway to study the formation and structure of the Iceland-Faroes Front (IFF) and its continuation into the Norwegian Sea. This front delineates the boundary between the cold Arctic waters north and east of Iceland and the warm waters of the NE Atlantic. It is also a major supply route of warm saline water to the Nordic Seas. A Lagrangian study of the inflow of warm water along the IFF into the Norwegian Sea will be conducted using a total of 60 constant depth RAFOS floats. These will be deployed sequentially from Icelandic and Faroese research vessels at the southern entrance to the Iceland-Faroe ridge to determine from where the warm waters come, and continue their transit north across the ridge and beyond into the Norwegian Sea via the IFF. The Norwegian partners will study the spreading of the Arctic Intermediate Waters, an expanding water mass that appears to be displacing the Norwegian Deep Waters that overflow into the northeast Atlantic. The observations will be used together for detailed studies and syntheses of the circulation, and they will also be immensely valuable for the many modeling studies of the Nordic Seas circulation.