Sea ice volume variability and water temperature in the Greenland Sea

Abstract. This study explores a link between the long-term variations in the integral sea ice volume (SIV) in the Greenland Sea and oceanic processes. Using the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS, 1979–2016), we show that the increasing sea ice volume flux through Fram Strait goes in parallel with a decrease in SIV in the Greenland Sea. The overall SIV loss in the Greenland Sea is 113 km3 per decade, while the total SIV import through Fram Strait increases by 115 km3 per decade. An analysis of the ocean temperature and the mixed-layer depth (MLD) over the climatic mean area of the winter marginal sea ice zone (MIZ) revealed a doubling of the amount of the upper-ocean heat content available for the sea ice melt from 1993 to 2016. This increase alone can explain the SIV loss in the Greenland Sea over the 24-year study period, even when accounting for the increasing SIV flux from the Arctic. The increase in the oceanic heat content is found to be linked to an increase in temperature of the Atlantic Water along the main currents of the Nordic Seas, following an increase in the oceanic heat flux from the subtropical North Atlantic. We argue that the predominantly positive winter North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during the 4 most recent decades, together with an intensification of the deep convection in the Greenland Sea, is responsible for the intensification of the cyclonic circulation pattern in the Nordic Seas, which results in the observed long-term variations in the SIV.

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Sea ice volume variability and water temperature in the Greenland Sea

10.5194/tc-2019-117 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Valeria Selyuzhenok ◽

Igor Bashmachnikov ◽

Robert Ricker ◽

Anna Vesman ◽

Leonid Bobylev

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Heat Content ◽

Ocean Heat Content ◽

Fram Strait ◽

Greenland Sea ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

Ice Volume ◽

Long Term Variations

Abstract. This study explores a link between the long-term variations in the integral sea ice volume (SIV) in the Greenland Sea and oceanic processes. Using Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modelling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS, 1979–2016), we show that the negative tendencies in SIV go in parallel with the increasing ice flux through the Fram Strait. The overall SIV loss in the Greenland Sea comprises 113 km3 per decade, while the total SIV import through the Fram strait is increasing by 115 km3 per decade. An analysis of the ocean temperature and the mixed layer depth (MLD) in the marginal sea ice zone (MIZ), based on ARMOR data-set (1993–2016), revealed doubling of the amount of the upper ocean heat content available for the ice melt in the MIZ. This increase over the 24-year period can solely explain the SIV loss in the Greenland Sea, even when accounting for the increasing SIV flux from the Arctic. The increase in the ocean heat content is found to be linked to an increase in the temperature of the Atlantic water in the Nordic seas, following an increase of ocean heat flux form the subtropical North Atlantic. We argue that the predominantly positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during the four recent decades, together with the intensification of the deep convection in the Greenland Sea, are responsible for the overall intensification of the circulation in the Nordic seas, which explains the observed long-term variations of the SIV.

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Satellite-derived sea ice export and its impact on Arctic ice mass balance

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-12-3017-2018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 3017-3032 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Robert Ricker ◽

Fanny Girard-Ardhuin ◽

Thomas Krumpen ◽

Camille Lique

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Mass Balance ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Large Scale ◽

The Arctic ◽

Fram Strait ◽

Ice Volume ◽

Ice Drift ◽

Ice Mass Balance ◽

Arctic Ice

Abstract. Sea ice volume export through the Fram Strait represents an important freshwater input to the North Atlantic, which could in turn modulate the intensity of the thermohaline circulation. It also contributes significantly to variations in Arctic ice mass balance. We present the first estimates of winter sea ice volume export through the Fram Strait using CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness retrievals and three different ice drift products for the years 2010 to 2017. The monthly export varies between −21 and −540 km3. We find that ice drift variability is the main driver of annual and interannual ice volume export variability and that the interannual variations in the ice drift are driven by large-scale variability in the atmospheric circulation captured by the Arctic Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation indices. On shorter timescale, however, the seasonal cycle is also driven by the mean thickness of exported sea ice, typically peaking in March. Considering Arctic winter multi-year ice volume changes, 54 % of their variability can be explained by the variations in ice volume export through the Fram Strait.

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Satellite-derived sea-ice export and its impact on Arctic ice mass balance

10.5194/tc-2018-6 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert Ricker ◽

Fanny Girard-Ardhuin ◽

Thomas Krumpen ◽

Camille Lique

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Mass Balance ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Large Scale ◽

The Arctic ◽

Fram Strait ◽

Ice Volume ◽

Ice Drift ◽

Ice Mass Balance ◽

Arctic Ice

Abstract. Ice volume export drives variations of Arctic ice mass balance. It also represents a significant fresh water input to the North Atlantic, which could in turn modulate the intensity of the thermohaline circulation. We present the first estimates of winter sea ice volume export through the Fram Strait using CryoSat-2 sea ice thickness retrievals and three different drift products for the years 2010 to 2017. The export rates vary between −21 and −540 km3/month. We find that ice drift variability is the main driver of annual and interannual ice volume export variability, and that the interannual variations of the ice drift are driven by large scale variability of the atmospheric circulation captured by the Arctic Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation indices. On shorter timescale, however, the seasonal cycle is also driven by the mean thickness of exported sea ice, typically peaking in March. Considering Arctic winter multiyear ice volume changes, 54 % of the variability can be explained by the variations of ice volume export through the Fram Strait.

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North Atlantic deep water formation and AMOC in CMIP5 models

Ocean Science ◽

10.5194/os-13-609-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 609-622 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Céline Heuzé

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Ocean Circulation ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Deep Water ◽

Deep Convection ◽

The Arctic ◽

Subpolar Gyre ◽

Deep Water Formation ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

Water Formation

Abstract. Deep water formation in climate models is indicative of their ability to simulate future ocean circulation, carbon and heat uptake, and sea level rise. Present-day temperature, salinity, sea ice concentration and ocean transport in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre and Nordic Seas from 23 CMIP5 (Climate Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5) models are compared with observations to assess the biases, causes and consequences of North Atlantic deep convection in models. The majority of models convect too deep, over too large an area, too often and too far south. Deep convection occurs at the sea ice edge and is most realistic in models with accurate sea ice extent, mostly those using the CICE model. Half of the models convect in response to local cooling or salinification of the surface waters; only a third have a dynamic relationship between freshwater coming from the Arctic and deep convection. The models with the most intense deep convection have the warmest deep waters, due to a redistribution of heat through the water column. For the majority of models, the variability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is explained by the volumes of deep water produced in the subpolar gyre and Nordic Seas up to 2 years before. In turn, models with the strongest AMOC have the largest heat export to the Arctic. Understanding the dynamical drivers of deep convection and AMOC in models is hence key to realistically forecasting Arctic oceanic warming and its consequences for the global ocean circulation, cryosphere and marine life.

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Amplified Inception of European Little Ice Age by Sea Ice–Ocean–Atmosphere Feedbacks

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-12-00690.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (19) ◽

pp. 7586-7602 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Flavio Lehner ◽

Andreas Born ◽

Christoph C. Raible ◽

Thomas F. Stocker

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Feedback Mechanism ◽

Ice Age ◽

The Arctic ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

Ice Growth ◽

Ocean Atmosphere

Abstract The inception of the Little Ice Age (~1400–1700 AD) is believed to have been driven by an interplay of external forcing and climate system internal variability. While the hemispheric signal seems to have been dominated by solar irradiance and volcanic eruptions, the understanding of mechanisms shaping the climate on a continental scale is less robust. In an ensemble of transient model simulations and a new type of sensitivity experiments with artificial sea ice growth, the authors identify a sea ice–ocean–atmosphere feedback mechanism that amplifies the Little Ice Age cooling in the North Atlantic–European region and produces the temperature pattern suggested by paleoclimatic reconstructions. Initiated by increasing negative forcing, the Arctic sea ice substantially expands at the beginning of the Little Ice Age. The excess of sea ice is exported to the subpolar North Atlantic, where it melts, thereby weakening convection of the ocean. Consequently, northward ocean heat transport is reduced, reinforcing the expansion of the sea ice and the cooling of the Northern Hemisphere. In the Nordic Seas, sea surface height anomalies cause the oceanic recirculation to strengthen at the expense of the warm Barents Sea inflow, thereby further reinforcing sea ice growth. The absent ocean–atmosphere heat flux in the Barents Sea results in an amplified cooling over Northern Europe. The positive nature of this feedback mechanism enables sea ice to remain in an expanded state for decades up to a century, favoring sustained cold periods over Europe such as the Little Ice Age. Support for the feedback mechanism comes from recent proxy reconstructions around the Nordic Seas.

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Thermohaline Fingerprints of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge and Fram Strait Subsidence Histories

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13450 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Akil Hossain ◽

Gregor Knorr ◽

Gerrit Lohmann ◽

Michael Stärz ◽

Wilfried Jokat

Keyword(s):

Southern Ocean ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Deep Water ◽

North Atlantic Deep Water ◽

The Arctic ◽

Fram Strait ◽

High Latitudes ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

Basin Scale ◽

Salinity Increase

Changes in ocean gateway configuration are known to induce basin-scale rearrangements in ocean characteristics throughout the Cenozoic. However, there is large uncertainty in the relative timing of the subsidence histories of ocean gateways in the northern high latitudes. By using a fully coupled General Circulation Model we investigate the salinity and temperature changes in response to the subsidence of two key ocean gateways in the northern high latitudes during early to middle Miocene. Deepening of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge causes a salinity increase and warming in the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean. While warming this realm, deep water formation takes place at lower temperatures due to a shift of the convection sites to north off Iceland. The associated deep ocean cooling and upwelling of deep waters to the Southern Ocean surface causes a cooling in the southern high latitudes. These characteristic impacts in response to the Greenland-Scotland Ridge deepening are independent of the Fram Strait state. Subsidence of the Fram Strait for a deep Greenland-Scotland Ridge causes less pronounced warming and salinity increase in the Nordic Seas. A stronger salinity increase is detected in the Arctic while temperatures remain unaltered, which further increases the density of the North Atlantic Deep Water. This causes an enhanced contribution of North Atlantic Deep Water to the abyssal ocean and on the expense of the colder southern source water component. These relative changes largely counteract each other and cause little warming in the upwelling regions of the Southern Ocean.

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Freshwater pulses in the eastern Arctic Ocean during Saalian and Early Weichselian ice-sheet collapse

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/j.yqres.2003.07.008 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 243-251 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Jochen Knies ◽

Christoph Vogt

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Large Scale ◽

Barents Sea ◽

The Arctic ◽

Fram Strait ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

The Arctic Ocean ◽

Transpolar Drift ◽

Mis 5

AbstractImproved multiparameter records from the northern Barents Sea margin show two prominent freshwater pulses into the Arctic Ocean during MIS 5 that significantly disturbed the regional oceanic regime and probably affected global climate. Both pulses are associated with major iceberg-rafted debris (IRD) events, revealing intensive iceberg/sea ice melting. The older meltwater pulse occurred near the MIS 5/6 boundary (∼131,000 yr ago); its ∼2000 year duration and high IRD input accompanied by high illite content suggest a collapse of large-scale Saalian Glaciation in the Arctic Ocean. Movement of this meltwater with the Transpolar Drift current into the Fram Strait probably promoted freshening of Nordic Seas surface water, which may have increased sea-ice formation and significantly reduced deep-water formation. A second pulse of freshwater occurred within MIS 5a (∼77,000 yr ago); its high smectite content and relatively short duration is possibly consistent with sudden discharge of Early Weichselian ice-dammed lakes in northern Siberia as suggested by terrestrial glacial geologic data. The influence of this MIS 5a meltwater pulse has been observed at a number of sites along the Transpolar Drift, through Fram Strait, and into the Nordic Seas; it may well have been a trigger for the North Atlantic cooling event C20.

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Nordic Seas Heat Loss, Atlantic Inflow, and Arctic Sea Ice cover over the last century

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9223 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lars H. Smedsrud ◽

Morven Muilwijk ◽

Ailin Brakstad ◽

Erica Madonna ◽

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Heat Transport ◽

Heat Loss ◽

The Arctic ◽

Co2 Uptake ◽

Ocean Heat Transport ◽

Total Heat Loss ◽

Nordic Seas

Poleward ocean heat transport is a key process in the earth system. Here we detail the changing northward Atlantic Water (AW) flow in the Nordic Seas and the associated Arctic Ocean heat transport and heat loss to the atmosphere since 1900, in relation to the sea ice cover. Our synthesis is largely based on a sea ice-ocean model forced by a reanalysis atmosphere (1900-2018) corroborated by a comprehensive hydrographic database (1950-), measurements of AW inflow (1996-), and other key long-term regional time series. Since the 1970s, ocean temperatures have increased in the Nordic, Barents and Polar Seas, in particular on the shelves. The AW loses heat to the atmosphere as it travels poleward, mostly in &#160;the Nordic Seas, where ~60% of the Arctic Ocean total heat loss resides. Nordic Seas heat loss variability is large, but the long-term positive trend is small. The Barents Sea heat loss is ~30% of the total, but has larger consistently positive trends, related to AW heat transport and sea ice loss. The Arctic seas farther north see only ~10% of the&#160; total heat loss, but show a consistently large increase in heat loss as well as decrease in sea ice since 1900. The AW inflow, the cooling of this water mass as it travels poleward, and the dense outflow have thus all increased since 1900, and they are consistently related through theoretical scaling. Some of the increased AW inflow is wind-driven, and much of the heat loss variability is linked to Cold Air Outbreaks and cyclones in the Nordic and Barents Seas. The oceanic warming is congruent with increased ocean heat transport and a loss of sea ice, and has contributed to the retreat of marine terminating glaciers on Greenland. After 2000, the warming has accelerated, creating a &#8220;new normal&#8221; that appears to also affect deep water volumes and temperature. The 20th century average Nordic, Barents and Polar Seas CO2 uptake constitutes ~8% of the global ocean, and is almost entirely driven by heat loss to the atmosphere as the AW transforms from inflow to overflow water. The total Arctic Ocean CO2 uptake has increased by ~30% since 1900, which is closely linked to the loss of sea ice in the Barents and Polar Seas.

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Mechanisms of the time-varying sea surface height and heat content trends in the eastern Nordic Seas

10.5194/os-2019-109 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sara Broomé ◽

Léon Chafik ◽

Johan Nilsson

Keyword(s):

North Atlantic ◽

Decadal Variability ◽

North Atlantic Ocean ◽

Heat Budget ◽

Heat Content ◽

Sea Surface Height ◽

Sea Surface ◽

The Arctic ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

Sea Surface Heights

Abstract. The Nordic Seas is the main ocean conveyor of heat between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. Although the decadal variability of the Subpolar North Atlantic has been given significant attention lately, especially regarding the cooling trend since mid-2000s, less is known about the potential connection downstream in the northern basins. Using sea surface heights from satellite altimetry over the past 25 years (1993–2017), we find significant variability on multiyear-to-decadal time scales in the Nordic Seas. In particular, the regional trends in sea surface height show signs of a slowdown since mid-2000s as compared to the rapid increase in the preceding decade since early 1990s. This change is most prominent in the Atlantic origin waters in the eastern Nordic Seas and is closely linked, as estimated from hydrography, to heat content. Furthermore, we formulate a simple heat budget for the eastern Nordic Seas to discuss the relative importance of local and remote sources of variability; advection of temperature anomalies in the Atlantic inflow is found to be the main mechanism. A conceptual model of ocean heat convergence, with only upstream temperature measurements at the inflow to the Nordic Seas as input, is able to reproduce key aspects of the decadal variability of the Nordic Seas' heat content. Based on these results, we argue that there is a strong connection with the upstream Subpolar North Atlantic. However, although the shift in trends in the mid-2000s is coincident in the Nordic Seas and the Subpolar North Atlantic, the eastern Nordic Seas has not seen a reversal of trends but instead maintain elevated sea surface heights and heat content in the recent decade considered here.

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Northward advection of Atlantic water in the eastern Nordic Seas over the last 3000 yr

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-9-1505-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 1505-1518 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

C. V. Dylmer ◽

J. Giraudeau ◽

F. Eynaud ◽

K. Husum ◽

A. De Vernal

Keyword(s):

Surface Water ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Water Masses ◽

Ice Age ◽

The Arctic ◽

Fram Strait ◽

Nordic Seas ◽

The North ◽

The North Atlantic

Abstract. Three marine sediment cores distributed along the Norwegian (MD95-2011), Barents Sea (JM09-KA11-GC), and Svalbard (HH11-134-BC) continental margins have been investigated in order to reconstruct changes in the poleward flow of Atlantic waters (AW) and in the nature of upper surface water masses within the eastern Nordic Seas over the last 3000 yr. These reconstructions are based on a limited set of coccolith proxies: the abundance ratio between Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus pelagicus, an index of Atlantic vs. Polar/Arctic surface water masses; and Gephyrocapsa muellerae, a drifted coccolith species from the temperate North Atlantic, whose abundance changes are related to variations in the strength of the North Atlantic Current. The entire investigated area, from 66 to 77° N, was affected by an overall increase in AW flow from 3000 cal yr BP (before present) to the present. The long-term modulation of westerlies' strength and location, which are essentially driven by the dominant mode of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), is thought to explain the observed dynamics of poleward AW flow. The same mechanism also reconciles the recorded opposite zonal shifts in the location of the Arctic front between the area off western Norway and the western Barents Sea–eastern Fram Strait region. The Little Ice Age (LIA) was governed by deteriorating conditions, with Arctic/Polar waters dominating in the surface off western Svalbard and western Barents Sea, possibly associated with both severe sea ice conditions and a strongly reduced AW strength. A sudden short pulse of resumed high WSC (West Spitsbergen Current) flow interrupted this cold spell in eastern Fram Strait from 330 to 410 cal yr BP. Our dataset not only confirms the high amplitude warming of surface waters at the turn of the 19th century off western Svalbard, it also shows that such a warming was primarily induced by an excess flow of AW which stands as unprecedented over the last 3000 yr.

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