Interannual changes in the overflow from the Nordic Seas into the Atlantic Ocean through Denmark Strait

Abstract

The global thermohaline circulation is an important part of Earth's climate system. Cold, dense water formed in the Nordic Seas enters the Atlantic Ocean as overflows across the sills of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. The Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) is one of the main sources of North Atlantic Deep Water. Until now the DSO has been believed to be stable on interannual timescales. Here, for the first time, evidence is presented from a 4-year program of observations showing that overflow transports in 1999/2000 were approximately 30% higher than previous estimates. Later, transports decreased remarkably during the observation period, coincident with a temporary temperature increase of about 0.5°C. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.