Formation and exchange of deep water in the Greenland and Norwegian seas

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The formation and exchange of deep water in the Greenland and Norwegian seas are modeled by a time-dependent box model. Using tritium and radiocarbon data, primarily from the Geochemical Sections (GEOSECS) 1972 operation, the time scale for deep convective mixing in the Greenland Sea is estimated to be about 30 years, which implies that about 100 m of surface water are mixed down annually. The time scale for exchange between the deep Greenland Sea and the deep Norwegian Sea is estimated to be at least 100 years. It appears, on the basis of tritium data, that the formation and exchange of deep water in the Greenland and Norwegian seas are essentially isolated from the formation of the dense overflow waters of the Denmark Strait and the Iceland-Faroe Passage.