Jónsson, S., and Valdimarsson, H. 2012. Water mass transport variability to the North Icelandic shelf, 1994–2010. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 809–815. In the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland, the north-flowing warm, saline Atlantic Water (AW) of the Irminger Current meets the south-flowing cold, relatively fresh Polar Water (PW) of the East Greenland Current. A mixture of these two surface water masses then flows along the shelf north of Iceland. The mixture can vary from being almost pure AW to consisting, to a large extent, of PW. The relative quantities of each water mass to some extent determine the productivity and the living conditions on the shelf north of Iceland. The flow has been monitored with current meters on a section north of Iceland since 1994, and these measurements, together with hydrographic data, are used to study its structure and variability. The amount of AW carried by the flow is calculated along with the associated heat transport. In the period 1994–2010, the flow consisted on average of 68% of AW with a transport of 0.88 Sv and an associated heat transport of 24 TW. There is notable seasonal variation in the flow and strong interannual variability.
Valdimarsson, H., Astthorsson, O. S., and Palsson, J. 2012. Hydrographic variability in Icelandic waters during recent decades and related changes in distribution of some fish species. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 816–825. Seasonal time-series of temperature and salinity around Iceland have been collected, with repeat observations at stations, since the start of the 1970s. After fairly cold years during the early 1990s, a reversal occurred during the mid-1990s and the period from 1996 to 2010 was one with warmer, more saline water in shelf seas around Iceland. Temperatures and salinities have been frequently above the long-term mean in the waters to the south and west of the country, and these conditions have also influenced the shelf area north of the country. Marked changes have also been observed in the distribution of many fish species during this warm period. Southern commercial species have extended farther north (e.g. haddock, monkfish, mackerel), a northern species is retreating (capelin), rare species and vagrants have been observed more frequently (e.g. greater fork beard, blue antimora, snake pipefish, sea lamprey, Ray's bream), and 31 species, from both shelf and oceanic waters, have been recorded for the first time since 1996. The most obvious explanation for these changes in the ecosystem has to be the warming of 1–2°C in the waters south and west of Iceland during the past 15 years.
The ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Working Group on Oceanic Hydrography (WGOH) maintains, analyses and develops coastal, shelf and deep ocean repeated stations and sections around the subpolar North Atlantic, the Nordic Seas and adjacent shelf seas. The WGOH annually reviews the latest results and research from repeat hydrography sections and stations, and generates a summary of hydrographic conditions in the North Atlantic, the ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC).By combining expertise in variability in physical processes and the relationship with ecosystems from around the North Atlantic, the WGOH is an excellent forum for developing new insight into climate variability and the impact on ecosystems. Recent new collaborative research highlights include observations of unusually warm and saline Atlantic Water in the Nordic Seas, a comparison of gridded sea surface temperature products to selected time series, and an isopycnal analysis over 300,000 profiles from the Nordic Seas.The WGOH encourages development of new time series and the use of new technology, and has led to the establishment of new ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) and surface observations from voluntary observing ships. Future challenges for WGOH include maintaining the integrity of time series, and communicating the information from the time series in a useful way to a wide range of stakeholders.The ICES WGOH has no dedicated funding, instead participants and time series are funded by member nations which are Canada,
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