Circulation Over the South‐East Greenland Shelf and Potential for Liquid Freshwater Export: A Drifter Study

Abstract

AbstractFreshwater input into deep convection regions could affect the overturning circulation. With a set of 15 Consortium for Advanced Research for the Transport of Hydrocarbon in the Environment (CARTHE) drifters and 15 Surface Velocity Program (SVP) drifters, we investigate the circulation over the south‐east Greenland shelf and the potential for off‐shelf freshwater export. Part of the East Greenland Current flow is steered into the East Greenland Coastal Current immediately upstream of Sermilik Trough. Between the trough and Cape Farewell, two separate cores are visible. Just past Cape Farewell drifters are redistributed into a shelfbreak core and a slow eddying shelf flow. A coastal core is reestablished downstream. Exchanges between the shelfbreak and coastal flows take place both on the east and west Greenland shelf, allowing fresher water to be diverted away from the coast. Five of 15 shallower CARTHE drifters were exported, mainly at Cape Farewell. CARTHE motion shows a higher correlation with local winds, which are more favorable for off‐shelf transport in this area.