Showing papers by "Eberhard Fahrbach published in 2000"

Water mass distribution in Fram Strait and over the Yermak Plateau in summer 1997

Abstract: . The water mass distribution in northern Fram Strait and over the Yermak Plateau in summer 1997 is described using CTD data from two cruises in the area. The West Spitsbergen Current was found to split, one part recirculated towards the west, while the other part, on entering the Arctic Ocean separated into two branches. The main inflow of Atlantic Water followed the Svalbard continental slope eastward, while a second, narrower, branch stayed west and north of the Yermak Plateau. The water column above the southeastern flank of the Yermak Plateau was distinctly colder and less saline than the two inflow branches. Immediately west of the outer inflow branch comparatively high temperatures in the Atlantic Layer suggested that a part of the extraordinarily warm Atlantic Water, observed in the boundary current in the Eurasian Basin in the early 1990s, was now returning, within the Eurasian Basin, toward Fram Strait. The upper layer west of the Yermak Plateau was cold, deep and comparably saline, similar to what has recently been observed in the interior Eurasian Basin. Closer to the Greenland continental slope the salinity of the upper layer became much lower, and the temperature maximum of the Atlantic Layer was occasionally below 0.5 °C, indicating water masses mainly derived from the Canadian Basin. This implies that the warm pulse of Atlantic Water had not yet made a complete circuit around the Arctic Ocean. The Atlantic Water of the West Spitsbergen Current recirculating within the strait did not extend as far towards Greenland as in the 1980s, leaving a broader passage for waters from the Atlantic and intermediate layers, exiting the Arctic Ocean. A possible interpretation is that the circulation pattern alternates between a strong recirculation of the West Spitsbergen Current in the strait, and a larger exchange of Atlantic Water between the Nordic Seas and the inner parts of the Arctic Ocean. Key words: Oceanography: general (Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; water masses) - Oceanography: physical (general circulation)

Intense nutrient removal in the remote area off Larsen Ice Shelf (Weddell Sea)

Abstract: Using Weddell Sea data collected during a cruise with “FS Polarstern” in austral summer 1992/1993, depletions of nutrients and TCO2 in the summer surface layer were calculated. The analogous depletion-like properties for temperature (Heat Storage) and salinity were also computed. The latter properties are useful to describe the physical conditions over the time period pertinent to the depletions. For different areas a strong correlation exists of Heat Storage and nutrient/TCO2 depletions, which is caused by a common factor – the period of light availability. Offshore of the Larsen shelf, an area usually inaccessible due to perennial ice cover, high nutrients/TCO2 depletions are achieved over a short period of time, pointing to a rapidly producing biological system. Primary productivity, calculated from the TCO2 depletion, amounts to about 100 mg C m−2 day−1 for the central Weddell Sea, but 570–1140 mg C m−2 day−1 for the offshore Larsen region. These values agree fairly well with the open-ocean Antarctic and other coastal areas, respectively.

Surface layer balance of the southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current (prime meridian) used to derive carbon and silicate consumptions and annual air-sea exchange for CO2 and oxygen

Abstract: A simple model, using concentrations of nitrate and phosphate in austral winter 1992, reveals that the Antarctic Surface Water (AASW) of the southernmost Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) between the Southern ACC Front and the Weddell Front is made up of about 90% Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW) and 10% northward-flowing AASW from the Weddell Gyre. With a typical time scale of about 1 year, the upwelling velocity was calculated to be as high as 60-100 m y-1. Knowing the composition of the surface water with respect to its sources, changes due to several processes in the surface layer were deduced for carbon dioxide, oxygen and silicate. As the time scale of changes in the surface layer of the southern ACC is about 1 year, this allows us to calculate changes on an annual basis without interference of short-term variations. Balancing the contributions by upwelling, biological activity and air-sea exchange to the concentrations in the surface layer, the area was found to be a large sink for atmospheric oxygen of 6.0 mol m-2 y-1 (53 µmol kg-1) and a small sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide of 1.0 mol m-2 y-1 (9 µmol kg-1). The most important cause for the oxygen sink is the upwelling of oxygen-poor UCDW, which surpasses the oxygen-elevating effect of primary productivity. This large oxygen sink, in between areas to the north and south which are only a small sink or even a source, conforms with the latitudinal distribution of atmospheric oxygen. The small CO2 sink is largely brought about by biological activity. The annual carbon utilization amounts to 76 ± 22 g C m-2 y-1, which is relatively high for an open ocean region in the Antarctic. However, it supports recent estimates of primary production of the Antarctic Ocean that are higher than early published values. The annual silicate consumption was calculated to be 126 ± 19 g Si m-2 y-1. This is considerably higher than the Southern Ocean mean in current estimates. Although the southernmost ACC may be atypical for the Southern Ocean, the current estimate for Southern Ocean silica production may well be an underestimation. The silicate to carbon utilization ratio derived here is 0.53 which aligns with investigations on Antarctic phytoplankton and thus underscores the consistency of our results.