Record Details

Tracing Pacific water in the North Atlantic Ocean

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Field Value
Title Tracing Pacific water in the North Atlantic Ocean
Names Jones, E. P. (creator)
Swift, J. H. (creator)
Anderson, L. G. (creator)
Lipizer, M. (creator)
Civitarese, G. (creator)
Falkner, Kelly (creator)
Kattner, G. (creator)
McLaughlin, F. A. (creator)
Date Issued 2003-04-12 (iso8601)
Note copyrighted by American Geophysical Union
Abstract In the Arctic Ocean, Pacific source water can be distinguished from Atlantic source
water by nitrate-phosphate concentration relationships, with Pacific water having higher
phosphate concentrations relative to those of nitrate. Furthermore, Pacific water, originally
from the inflow through Bering Strait, is clearly recognizable in the outflows of lowsalinity
waters from the Arctic Ocean to the northern North Atlantic Ocean through the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago and through Fram Strait. In the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago, we observe that almost all of the waters flowing through Lancaster and Jones
sounds, most of the water in the top 100 m in Smith Sound (containing the flow through
Nares Strait), and possibly all waters in Hudson Bay contain no water of Atlantic
origin. Significant amounts of Pacific water are also observed along the western coast of
Baffin Bay, along the coast of Labrador, and above the 200-m isobath of the Grand
Banks. There is a clear signal of Pacific water flowing south through Fram Strait and along
the east coast of Greenland extending at least as far south as Denmark Strait. Pacific water
signature can be seen near the east coast of Greenland at 66°N, but not in data at
60°N. Temporal variability in the concentrations of Pacific water has been observed at
several locations where multiple-year observations are available.
Genre Article
Topic North Atlantic Ocean
Identifier Jones, E. P., Swift, J. H., Anderson, L. G., Lipizer, M., Civitarese, G., Falkner, K. K., Kattner, G., McLaughlin, F. and Olafsson, J., 2003, Tracing Pacific water in the North Atlantic Ocean: J. Geophys. Res., v. 108(C4), 3116.

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