Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies

Fan, Xue; Send, Uwe; Testor, Pierre; Karstensen, Johannes; Lherminier, Pascale

doi:10.1175/jpo-d-11-0155.1

Cited by 36 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…10b,c) ). The magnitudes of the anomalies observed in the Lofoten basin are smaller than similar observations in the central Irminger Sea (Fan et al 2013) and the Labrador Sea (e.g., de Jong et al 2013).…”

Section: Eddiescontrasting

confidence: 54%

“…These so-called Irminger rings result from instabilities in the Irminger Current along the west coast of Greenland and have a distinctive signature in altimetric maps of sea level anomaly (de Jong et al 2013). Similar processes and eddies have been observed in the Irminger Sea, where anticyclones have been observed to enter the region from along the east coast of Greenland and from the northward-flowing AW current along the western side of the Reykjanes Ridge (Fan et al 2013).…”

Section: Eddiesmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…In the Labrador Sea, de Jong et al (2013) observed warm-core anticyclones propagating toward the recently ventilated central Labrador Sea, with surface temperatures 28-38C greater and salinities ;0.1 psu greater than the average Labrador Seawater (LSW) values. In the Irminger Sea, anticyclones observed from a mooring by Fan et al (2013) were also seen to contain anomalously warm and salty water, with mean anomalies relative to the noneddy background of approximately 0.288C and 0.03 psu. The small anomalies in the Lofoten basin (approximately half the Irminger Sea and an order of magnitude smaller than the Labrador Sea) are likely at least partially due to the size of the basin and that the topography ensures that anticyclones will be confined to it, thus creating the characteristic ''deep pool'' of warm and salty water (e.g., Figs.…”

Section: A Eddy Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observations of Water Mass Transformation and Eddies in the Lofoten Basin of the Nordic Seas

Richards

Straneo

2015

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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The Lofoten basin of the Nordic Seas is recognized as a crucial component of the meridional overturning circulation in the North Atlantic because of the large horizontal extent of Atlantic Water and winter surface buoyancy loss. In this study, hydrographic and current measurements collected from a mooring deployed in the Lofoten basin from July 2010 to September 2012 are used to describe water mass transformation and the mesoscale eddy field. Winter mixed layer depths (MLDs) are observed to reach approximately 400 m, with larger MLDs and denser properties resulting from the colder 2010 winter. A heat budget of the upper water column requires lateral input, which balances the net annual heat loss of ;80 W m 22. The lateral flux is a result of mesoscale eddies, which dominate the velocity variability. Eddy velocities are enhanced in the upper 1000 m, with a barotropic component that reaches the bottom. Detailed examination of two eddies, from April and August 2012, highlights the variability of the eddy field and eddy properties. Temperature and salinity properties of the April eddy suggest that it originated from the slope current but was ventilated by surface fluxes. The properties within the eddy were similar to those of the mode water, indicating that convection within the eddies may make an important contribution to water mass transformation. A rough estimate of eddy flux per unit boundary current length suggests that fluxes in the Lofoten basin are larger than in the Labrador Sea because of the enhanced boundary current-interior density difference.

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Section: Eddiescontrasting

confidence: 54%

Section: Eddiesmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: A Eddy Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observations of Water Mass Transformation and Eddies in the Lofoten Basin of the Nordic Seas

Richards

Straneo

2015

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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“…By allowing a relatively high horizontal resolution (distance between consecutive profiles $2-4 km), gliders can dynamically characterize small-scale SCVs [Martin et al, 2009;Fan et al, 2013;Pelland et al, 2013;Bosse et al, 2015;Thomsen et al, 2016].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2016

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Since 2010, an intense effort in the collection of in situ observations has been carried out in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea thanks to gliders, profiling floats, regular cruises, and mooring lines. This integrated observing system enabled a year‐to‐year monitoring of the deep waters formation that occurred in the Gulf of Lions area during four consecutive winters (2010–2013). Vortical structures remnant of wintertime deep vertical mixing events were regularly sampled by the different observing platforms. These are Submesoscale Coherent Vortices (SCVs) characterized by a small radius (∼5–8 km), strong depth‐intensified orbital velocities (∼10–20 cm s−1) with often a weak surface signature, high Rossby (∼0.5) and Burger numbers O(0.5–1). Anticyclones transport convected waters resulting from intermediate (∼300 m) to deep (∼2000 m) vertical mixing. Cyclones are characterized by a 500–1000 m thick layer of weakly stratified deep waters (or bottom waters that cascaded from the shelf of the Gulf of Lions in 2012) extending down to the bottom of the ocean at ∼2500 m. The formation of cyclonic eddies seems to be favored by bottom‐reaching convection occurring during the study period or cascading events reaching the abyssal plain. We confirm the prominent role of anticyclonic SCVs and shed light on the important role of cyclonic SCVs in the spreading of a significant amount (∼30%) of the newly formed deep waters away from the winter mixing areas. Since they can survive until the following winter, they can potentially have a great impact on the mixed layer deepening through a local preconditioning effect.

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“…As for K1, the site is 425 characterized by a weak mean flow (around 1 cm s -1 ) while the EKE (based on intra seasonal velocity fluctuations) is around 80 cm 2 s -2 (Fan et al 2013). The location of CIS is at the edge of the mid-basin velocity band connecting the Labrador Sea around the tip of Greenland, and into the Irminger Sea.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

Mean circulation and EKE distribution in the Labrador Sea Water level of the subpolar North Atlantic

Fischer¹,

Karstensen²,

Oltmanns³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Observations of Irminger Sea Anticyclonic Eddies

Cited by 36 publications

References 53 publications

Observations of Water Mass Transformation and Eddies in the Lofoten Basin of the Nordic Seas

Observations of Water Mass Transformation and Eddies in the Lofoten Basin of the Nordic Seas

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Mean circulation and EKE distribution in the Labrador Sea Water level of the subpolar North Atlantic

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