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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L03305, doi:10.1029/2003GL019214, 2004

A new path for the Denmark Strait overflow water from the Iceland Sea to Denmark Strait

Steingrimur Jonsson

Marine Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland
University of Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland


Hedinn Valdimarsson

Marine Research Institute, Reykjavik, Iceland


Abstract

Denmark Strait overflow water (DSOW) is one of the main components of the thermohaline circulation. There has been no consensus on where it is formed and by which way it is brought to the Denmark Strait. It is shown here that it is brought to the sill by a hitherto unknown current that is traced from the sill back into the Iceland Sea north of Iceland. The transport of this current is sufficient to account for a major part of the transport of DSOW as it has been measured at the sill if some entrainment of ambient water is assumed. This supports theories suggesting that the Iceland Sea is the main source for the DSOW and this has consequences for the way in which climate change affects the thermohaline circulation.

Received 4 December 2003; accepted 14 January 2004; published 10 February 2004.

Index Terms: 4207 Oceanography: General: Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; 4512 Oceanography: Physical: Currents; 4283 Oceanography: General: Water masses; 4532 Oceanography: Physical: General circulation; 4536 Oceanography: Physical: Hydrography.

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Citation: Jonsson, S., and H. Valdimarsson (2004), A new path for the Denmark Strait overflow water from the Iceland Sea to Denmark Strait, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L03305, doi:10.1029/2003GL019214.