The Barents Sea is a shallow continental shelf sea. Generally, the physical conditions are determined by three main water masses: Coastal Water, (North) Atlantic Water, and Arctic Water. These three water masses are linked to three different current systems: the Norwegian Coastal Current, the Atlantic Current,and the Arctic Current. This paper gives a brief description of these current systems and their related water masses. Vertical stratification of the different water masses is emphasised since this is important for primary production.
Climatic variability is determined by the properties and the activity of the inflowing Atlantic Water. Current activity variations may be explained by external forcing, but may also be a result of processes taking place in the Barents Sea itself. The climatic fluctuations have a significant effect on the ice conditions, which in turn influence the biological production in the northern Barents Sea.
Hydrographic time series in the northeast North Atlantic and Nordic Seas show that the freshening trend of the 1960s–1990s has completely reversed in the upper ocean. Since the 1990s temperature and salinity have rapidly increased in the Atlantic Inflow from the eastern subpolar gyre to the Fram Strait. In 2003–2006 salinity values reached the previous maximum last observed around 1960, and temperature values exceeded records. The mean properties of the Atlantic Inflow decrease northwards, but variations seen in the eastern subpolar gyre at 57°N persist with the same amplitude and pattern along the pathways to Fram Strait. Time series correlations and extreme events suggest a time lag of 3–4 years over that distance. This estimate allows predictions to be made; the temperature of Atlantic water in the Fram Strait may start to decline in 2007 or 2008, salinity a year later, but both will remain high at least until 2010.
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