CONTRIBUTION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN-SEA OUTFLOW TO THE NORWEGIAN GREENLAND SEA

In an earlier paper dealing with the mid-depth (1000 m) circulation of the North Atlantic Ocean, the water from the Mediterranean outflow, seen as a high-salinity subsurface layer, was shown to flow northward along the coast of Europe as well as westward. The distribution of the core of high-salinity water has been examined along an isopycnal surface that passes through the core near the source. The isopycnal varies in depth in the North Atlantic in accordance with the general circulation and outcrops at the sea surface in the Labrador and Norwegian-Greenland seas. Near 60°N it is shallow enough to extend through the Faroe-Shetland Channel. The high salinity of the Mediterranean outflow extends along this isopycnal and contributes substantially to the salinity of the water passing northward into the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. It has been supposed previously that it is the upper waters of the Northeastern Atlantic Ocean that pass through this channel and contribute the high salinity of the Norwegian Current. From examination of the temperature, salinity, and oxygen of the various layers, it appears likely to be the Mediterranean core that contributes the characteristics of the Norwegian Current, but with heat exchange through the sea surface, precipitation, and the low-salinity contribution from the Baltic-North Sea all uncertain, these characteristics alone do not provide a clear answer. Consideration of the silica field, however, provides a more convincing argument that the deeper water in the depth range of the Mediterranean outflow water provides a major component of the water passing northward through the Faroe-Shetland Channel. © 1979.