The Arctic Waters

Abstract

The classic study of the Nordic Seas (Fig. 1) is that of Helland-Hansen and Nansen (1909). They discussed their topic so thoroughly that an essentially correct, comprehensive discussion of the hydrography of the region could still be based largely upon their work. One reason for their success was that they were among the first to achieve in their determinations of hydrographic properties a degree of accuracy and precision nearly up to today’s standards. Also, their understanding of the circulation was considerably strengthened by their use of the geostrophic method. In fact, it was Sandstrom and Helland-Hansen (1903) who published the original paper describing the method, and the 1909 study was the first to apply it. Finally, the region is nicely scaled, both in its geography and in its range of hydrographic properties. Thus it was possible for Helland-Hansen and Nansen to do justice to the region with the methods at their disposal. However, they lacked sufficient winter data to study the formation of the dense water masses characteristic of the region; thus they did not fully appreciate the uniqueness and importance of these water masses.