Abnormal phenomenon noted in Arctic sea ice dynamics

Abstract

The Greenland, Iceland, and Norway (GIN) Seas to the northwest of Norway are an important region of interaction between the ocean, ice, and atmosphere. A northward‐flowing branch of the warm Gulf Stream system and the southward‐flowing East Greenland current provide the only major pathways for the exchange of water between the warm, salty Atlantic and the cold, fresh Arctic Oceans. A bathymetric study of the GIN and Barents Sea region reveals a broad continental shelf including the Yermak Plateau northwest of the Spitsbergen Archipelago, which rises sharply over ˜150 km from a depth of over 3000 m east of the mid‐Atlantic Ridge to only 500 m near 82°N, 10° [State Polar Research Office, 1998]. The co‐location of strong ocean currents and dramatic bathymetry can create trapped eddies and other unusual oceanographic features, including Taylor columns [Martin and Drucker, 1997].