Flow of Atlantic Water west of Iceland and onto the north Icelandic Shelf

The Marine Research Institute in Iceland has been monitoring the inflow of Atlantic Water onto the north Icelandic Shelf using Aanderaa current meters on one mooring since 1985. In August 1999 three moorings were deployed along the Hornbanki section and recovered a year later, and these data are used along with CTD data from the section to estimate the flow of Atlantic Water to the north Icelandic Shelf. The mean transport during this period was found to be 0.95 Sv. This is lower than a pre­vious estimate using a single mooring from the Kogur section. No clear seasonal variations were found in the transport. Interannual variations were studied using data from the single mooring at the Hornbanki section for the period 1994-2000. There are no significant variations in the velocity, but the temperature shows interannual vari­ability. The year 1995 stands out with extremely low temperatures and during that year an anomalously small amount of Atlantic Water was found over the north Ice­landic Shelf. This may show that current measurements alone do not indicate the flow of Atlantic Water, and measurements of the water properties are needed to distinguish what kind of water is flowing along the Shelf.

Article from Marine Science Symposia Vol. 219 - "Hydrobiological variability in the ICES Area, 1990-1999", symposium held in Edinburgh, 8-10 August 2001. To access  the remaining articles please click on the keyword "MSS Vol. 219".