Hydrographic observations in denmark strait in fall 1997, and their implications for the entrainment into the overflow plume

Abstract

Denmark Strait is the most important exit for water masses formed in the Arctic Mediterranean Sea and supplies a substantial fraction of the North Atlantic Deep Water. Observations obtained from RV Aranda in August-September 1997 indicate that the water crossing the 620m deep sill is mainly drawn from the intermediate waters of the East Greenland Current. The overflow plume was stratified and capped by a less saline layer as it descended beyond 2000m. The presence of a low salinity lid implies that entrainment of ambient water is small and that the downstream evolution of the plume characteristics is due to mixing, within the plume, between the initial overflow waters. Low salinity, but dense, water from the East Greenland Current flowing over the shelf may cross the shelf break south of the sill and add a less dense fraction to the overflow. Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.