THE LABRADOR SEA PLAYS A DISPROPORTIONALLY LARGE ROLE IN THE GLOBAL OCEAN CIRCULATION. BECAUSE IT IS AN AREA OF ACTIVE DEEP WATER FORMATION STRATIFICATION IN THE LABRADOR SEA IS A KEY COMPONENT OF THE EARTH S CLIMATE. COASTAL WATERS IN THE LABRADOR SEA ARE STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY THE SEASONAL INPUT OF LOW SALINITY WATER FROM THE ARCTIC AND FROM MELTWATER FROM THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET. THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET HAS UNDERGONE ACCELERATING MASS LOSSES DURING RECENT DECADES HAVING NEARLY TRIPLED SINCE THE 1950 S AND MELTWATER RUNOFF IS PREDICTED TO MORE THAN DOUBLE BY THE END OF THE CENTURY. AS SUCH MECHANISMS CONTROLLING THE OFFSHORE EXPORT OF LOW-SALINITY COASTAL WATER CAN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON CIRCULATION DYNAMICS INCLUDING STRATIFICATION AND VERTICAL STABILITY IN THE CENTRAL LABRADOR SEA WITH DIRECT IMPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE. THIS PROPOSAL WILL EXAMINE TRANSPORT PROCESSES IN THE LABRADOR SEA FROM COASTAL AREAS UNDER THE DIRECT INFLUENCE OF GREENLAND ICE SHEET MELTWATER RUNOFF TO AREAS OFFSHORE IN THE INTERIOR OF THE BASIN WHERE DEEP CONVECTION OCCURS IN WINTER. OUR OVERARCHING GOAL IS TO QUANTIFY THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT TRANSPORT MECHANISMS ON THE OFFSHORE EXPORT OF MELTWATER THAT CAN INFLUENCE STRATIFICATION AWAY FROM THE COAST. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT MECHANISMS WILL VARY DEPENDING ON THE ORIGIN OF THE LOW-SALINITY WATER. WE ALSO HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EDDIES AND SUBMESOSCALE VARIABILITY DRIVING CROSSISOBATH TRANSPORT WILL INCREASE WITH TIME. OUR HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THE PREDICTED INCREASE IN ICE SHEET MELTWATER RUNOFF WILL RESULT IN A STRONGER BUOYANCY GRADIENT BETWEEN COASTAL AND OFFSHORE WATERS AND IN A MORE UNSTABLE FLOW OFF WEST GREENLAND WHICH WILL RESULT IN STRONGER EDDY ACTIVITY AND SUBMESOSCALE VARIABILITY. LASTLY WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE LARGE SCALE CIRCULATION WILL DRIVE LITTLE CROSSISOBATH TRANSPORT AND AS SUCH HAVE A SMALL INFLUENCE ON STRATIFICATION IN THE CENTRAL LABRADOR SEA IN REGIONS OF DEEP WATER FORMATION. HOWEVER IT WILL PLAY A CRITICAL ROLE TRANSPORTING THE MELTWATER AWAY FROM THE COAST (MOSTLY ALONG ISOBATHS) AND INCREASING THE AREA UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MELTWATER CONSTITUENTS (E.G. NUTRIENTS) WITH LARGE ECOSYSTEM IMPLICATIONS. WE WILL BUILD ON OUR RECENT WORK ON THE LABRADOR SEA AND USE REMOTE-SENSING OBSERVATIONS AND IN SITU DATA IN COMBINATION WITH A LONG-TERM MODEL SIMULATION TO ANSWER OUR SPECIFIC QUESTIONS AND TEST OUR HYPOTHESES. COMPARISONS BETWEEN PERIODS OF RELATIVELY LOW MELTWATER RUNOFF IN THE 1990 S AND THE LAST DECADE WHEN MELTWATER RUNOFF REACHED RECORD LEVELS WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS ON HOW THE SYSTEM MAY RESPOND TO THE PROJECTED INCREASE IN GREENLAND ICE SHEET MELTING DUE TO CHANGES IN CLIMATE. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE TRAINING OF A STUDENT IN A SCIENCE FIELD RELEVANT TO NASA.