Denmark Strait Overflow Research Articles

Current-controlled sedimentation in a megatransform system: a case study of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone

The Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone (CGFZ) is the main transform system in the North Atlantic Ocean. It serves as a primary deep-water gateway for the Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) current. Using high-resolution seismo-acoustic profiling, three types of contourite drift were identified in the valleys of the inactive fractures and active transform of the CGFZ: (1) channel-related drifts, (2) confined drift, and (3) plastered drift. The ISOW current is the main agent controlling drift formation in the northern valley and eastern part of the southern valley, while the Denmark Strait Overflow Water or Low Deep Water is suggested for the western part of the southern valley. Examination of two sediment cores shows that the contourite drifts at least at their upper parts consist of alternated muddy and silty contourites and pelagic/hemipelagic sediments. The contourite deposition corresponds to the present interglacial interval. During glacial interval (MIS 3-2) and the last glacial/interglacial transition, pelagic/hemipelagic sedimentation prevailed corresponding with high IRD input. The position of the highly productive Subarctic Front over the study area induced the formation of diatom ooze beds at the beginning of MIS 1 and high-carbonate pelagites during some intervals of MIS 3.

Polar Lows and Their Effects on Sea Ice and the Upper Ocean in the Iceland, Greenland, and Labrador Seas

AbstractUsing two case studies, we analyze the effects of explicitly resolving polar lows in a global climate model (ICON‐Sapphire) with a high resolution of 2.5 km on the upper ocean and sea ice. We aim to understand the mechanism of how polar lows form in a global coupled model and how they interact with the upper ocean and sea ice. When polar lows form at the sea ice edge, they induce marine cold air outbreaks that lead to large heat loss from the ocean. This heat loss contributes to dense water formation in the Iceland and Greenland Seas, which replenishes the climatically important Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW). The high wind speeds of polar lows open leads and polynyas in the sea ice cover, such as the Sirius Water Polynya in northeastern Greenland. Heat loss in polynyas is compensated for by the formation of new ice, and the rejected brine densifies the water on the Greenland shelf. In the Labrador Sea, polar lows intensify cold air outbreaks from the sea ice and rapidly deepen the ocean mixed layer. Resolving polar lows and kinematic features in the sea ice improves the realism of climate models, in particular the surface heat loss and the dense water formation in (sub)polar oceans.

Large diversity in AMOC internal variability across NEMO-based climate models

We characterise, and explore the drivers of, differences in the internal variability of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) across five NEMO-based CMIP6 class climate models. While the variability of AMOC variability is dominated by its lower dense limb in all models, there is large diversity in the timescale, multidecadal variability, and latitudinal coherence of AMOC across models. In particular, the UK models have much weaker AMOC multidecadal variability and latitudinal coherence. The model diversity is associated with differences in salinity-governed surface density variations which drive high-density water mass transformation (WMT) in the Greenland–Iceland–Norwegian Seas (GIN) and the Arctic. Specifically, GIN Seas WMT shows large multidecadal variability which has a major impact on AMOC variability in non-UK models. In contrast, the smaller variability in GIN Seas WMT in the UK models has limited impact on the lower latitude AMOC via the Denmark strait overflow mass transport. This leads to a latitudinally less coherent and weaker multidecadal variability of the AMOC lower limb. Such differences between UK and non-UK models are related to differences in model mean states and densification processes in the Arctic and GIN Seas. Consequently, we recommend further in-depth studies to better understand and constrain processes driving salinity changes in the Arctic and GIN Seas for more reliable representation of the AMOC in climate models.

Impact of Water Mass Mixing on the Composition and Mineralization of Dissolved Organic Matter in the Deep Labrador Sea

AbstractThe Labrador Sea is a region of the North Atlantic known for its strong ocean currents and deep water formation, which contribute to the transport and mixing of water masses throughout the region. The absorbing and fluorescing properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were assessed to track the water masses and the in situ production in the Labrador Sea (>200 m). No significant differences in DOM composition were found in the mesopelagic waters (200–1,000 m). In the bathypelagic waters (1,000–4,000 m), the estimated dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved lignin concentrations, as well as humic‐like fluorescence intensities, allowed the discrimination of North East Atlantic Deep Water versus Denmark Strait overflow water. The humic‐like intensities were significantly different between upper Labrador Sea water (uLSW) and deep LSW (dLSW) suggesting their applications as tracers of deep winter mixing. The significant correlations with apparent oxygen utilization support the in situ production of humic‐like fluorescence and the net microbial consumption of DOC and lignin in the dark Labrador Sea. We also demonstrated that microbial activities play a role in the production of humic‐like compounds in the dLSW that experiences deep convection mixing.

Mechanisms of Heat Flux Across the Southern Greenland Continental Shelf in 1/10° and 1/12° Ocean/Sea Ice Simulations

AbstractThe presence of warm Atlantic water on the Greenland continental shelf has been connected to the accelerated melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, particularly in the southwest and southeast shelf regions. Results from two high‐resolution coupled ocean‐sea ice simulations that utilized either the 1/10° Parallel Ocean Program (POP) or the 1/12° HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) are used to understand the flux of heat on and off the southern Greenland shelf. The analysis reveals that the region of greatest heat flux onto the shelf is southeast Greenland. On the southwestern shelf, heat is mainly exported from the shelf to the interior basins. We identify differences in the shelf break current structure and on‐shelf heat content between the two simulations. Just south of the Denmark Strait, there is a seasonally persistent pattern of multi‐day variability in the cross‐shelf heat flux in both simulations. In the POP simulation, this high‐frequency signal results in net on‐shore heat flux. In the HYCOM simulation, the signal is weaker and results in net off‐shelf heat flux. This variability is consistent with Denmark Strait Overflow eddies traveling along the shelf break.

Deep ocean circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic observed by acoustically-tracked floats

The deep circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic determines the spread and mixing of high latitude climate signals to lower latitudes. However, our current understanding of the subpolar deep circulation has been limited due to relatively sparse observational data. To improve that understanding, we construct gridded fields of mean velocity and eddy kinetic energy (EKE) in the deep (1800–2800 dbar) subpolar North Atlantic using direct velocity measurements from 122 subsurface acoustically-tracked floats that drifted during June 2014–January 2019. The mean velocity field reveals a relatively strong deep boundary current around Greenland and in the Labrador Sea, with a weaker deep boundary current over the eastern flank of the Reykjanes Ridge, and near-zero mean flow over the western flank, implying a discontinuous deep boundary current across the subpolar basin. The deep EKE, albeit with smaller magnitudes, generally resembles the EKE pattern at the ocean surface, including relatively high values along pathways of the North Atlantic Current and west of Greenland where the Irminger Rings are formed. A surprising finding about deep EKE is an elevated band east of Greenland that parallels the coast and is not present in the surface EKE field. This high EKE band is possibly attributed to the combined influence from propagating Denmark Strait Overflow Cyclones, variability of the wind-driven recirculation offshore of southeast Greenland, and/or topographic waves. The float-based flow fields constructed in this study provide an unprecedented quantitative view of the kinematic properties of the large-scale deep circulation in the subpolar North Atlantic. Combined with cross-basin Eulerian measurements, we believe these recent observations provide a benchmark for testing and improving numerical simulations of deep ocean circulation and the Meridional Overturning Circulation, which are urgently needed for climate change predictions.

Formation and pathways of dense water in the Nordic Seas based on a regional inversion

Dense waters formed in the Nordic Seas spill across gaps in the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the abyss of the North Atlantic to feed the lower limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The overflow water transport is well known, but open questions remain regarding where and how the dense overflow waters are formed and transported to the ridge. Here we develop a regional high-resolution version of an inverse method called Total Matrix Intercomparison, which combines hydrographic and geochemical tracer observations between 2000 and 2019 to resolve the pathways that connect the overflows to their origins. Consistent with previous studies we find two main pathways feeding the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW): the East Greenland Current and the North Icelandic Jet. Most of the water supplied by the North Icelandic Jet originates in the Greenland Sea (82 ± 2%) and flows southward along an outer core of the East Greenland Current, as well as along a previously unknown pathway crossing the Jan Mayen Ridge into the Iceland Sea. In total, 39 ± 2% of the DSOW originates in the Greenland Sea, while the Iceland Sea and the Atlantic Domain of the Nordic Seas account for 20 ± 3% and 19 ± 2%, respectively. The majority of the Faroe Bank Channel Overflow Water originates in the Greenland Sea (46 ± 8%) and the Arctic Ocean (25 ± 9%). These dense waters approach the sill in the Iceland-Faroe Slope Jet and along the eastern side of the Jan Mayen Ridge. The inversion reveals unprecedented details on the upstream sources and pathways of the overflows, which have not previously been obtained using observations.

Overflow water pathways in the North Atlantic

As part of the international Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP), 135 acoustically-tracked deep floats were deployed to track the spreading pathways of Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) and Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) from 2014 to 2018. These water masses, which originate in the Nordic Seas, are transported by the deepest branch of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The OSNAP floats provide the first directly-observed, comprehensive Lagrangian view of ISOW and DSOW spreading pathways throughout the subpolar North Atlantic. The collection of OSNAP float trajectories, complemented by model simulations, reveals that their pathways are (a) not restricted to western boundary currents, and (b) remarkably different from each other in character. The spread of DSOW from the Irminger Sea is primarily via the swift deep boundary currents of the Irminger and Labrador Seas, whereas the spread of ISOW out of the Iceland Basin is slower and along multiple export pathways. The characterization of these Overflow Water pathways has important implications for our understanding of the AMOC and its variability. Finally, reconstructions of AMOC variability from proxy data, involving either the strength of boundary currents and/or the property variability of deep waters, should account for the myriad pathways of DSOW and ISOW, but particularly so for the latter.

Warming‐to‐Cooling Reversal of Overflow‐Derived Water Masses in the Irminger Sea During 2002–2021

AbstractShipboard hydrography along the A25‐Ovide section (2002–2018) is combined with a high‐resolution mooring array (2014–2020) and a regional fleet of Deep‐Argo floats (2016–2021) to describe temperature changes of overflow‐derived water masses in the Irminger Sea. Removing dynamical influences enables to identify a new statistically significant trend reversal in Iceland Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) and Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) core temperatures in the mid‐2010s. A basin‐wide cooling trend of −16 ± 6 m°C yr−1 during 2016–2021—but reaching as strong as −44 ± 13 m°C yr−1 for DSOW in recent years—is found to interrupt a warming phase that was prevailing since the late 1990s. The absence of an apparent reversal in the Nordic Seas and the faster changes detected in DSOW compared to ISOW point out the entrainment of subpolar signals within the overflows near the Greenland‐Iceland‐Scotland sills as a most likely driver.

The Annual Salinity Cycle of the Denmark Strait Overflow

AbstractThe Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) is an important source of dense water input to the deep limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). It is fed by separate currents from the north that advect dense water masses formed in the Nordic Seas and Arctic Ocean which then converge at Denmark Strait. Here we identify an annual salinity cycle of the DSO, characterized by freshening in winter and spring. The freshening is linked to freshening of the Shelfbreak East Greenland Current in the Blosseville Basin north of the Denmark Strait. We demonstrate that the East Greenland Current advects fresh pycnocline water above the recirculating Atlantic Water, which forms a low salinity lid for the overflow in Denmark Strait and in the Irminger Basin. This concept is supported by intensified freshening of the DSO in lighter density classes on the Greenland side of the overflow. The salinity of the DSO in the Irminger Basin is significantly correlated with northerly/northeasterly winds in the Blosseville Basin at a lag of 3–4 months, consistent with estimated transit times. This suggests that wind driven variability of DSO source water exerts an important influence on the salinity variability of the downstream DSO, and hence the composition of the deep limb of the AMOC.

Moored Observations of the Iceland‐Scotland Overflow Plume Along the Eastern Flank of the Reykjanes Ridge

AbstractSince 2014, an array of current meters deployed in the Iceland Basin as part of the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program has provided new measurements of the southward flow of Iceland‐Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) along the eastern flank of the Reykjanes Ridge. The location of the array, near 58–59°N, captures the ISOW plume at the farthest downstream location in the Iceland Basin before significant amounts of ISOW can flow into the Irminger Basin through deep fractures in the Reykjanes Ridge. The net transport of the ISOW plume at this location—approximately 5.3 Sv based on the first 4 years of observations—is significantly larger than previous values obtained farther north in the Iceland Basin, suggesting that either previous measurements did not fully capture the plume transport or that additional entrainment into the ISOW plume occurs as it approaches the southern tip of the Reykjanes Ridge. A detailed water mass analysis of the plume from continuous temperature/salinity observations shows that about 50% of the plume transport (2.6 Sv) is derived from dense waters flowing over the Nordic Sea sills into the Iceland Basin, while the remainder is made up of nearly equal parts of entrained Atlantic thermocline water and modified Labrador Sea Water. The overall results from this study suggest that the ISOW plume approximately doubles its transport through entrainment, similar to that of the Denmark Strait overflow plume in the Irminger Sea that forms the other major overflow source of North Atlantic Deep Water.

Dense Water Formation on the Icelandic Shelf and Its Contribution to the North Icelandic Jet

AbstractThe North Icelandic Jet (NIJ) is the densest component of the Denmark Strait Overflow Water, feeding the abyssal limb of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Here, by using observational and numerical model data, we explore the formation of overflow water on the Icelandic shelf, the mechanisms involved, and its potential contribution to the NIJ. The sparse observational data on the western Icelandic shelf for the month of February shows top‐to‐bottom mixing on the shelf, distinct and well separated from the dense water offshore, with densities larger than 27.8 kg/m3 in some years. Using a 1‐D mixing model and winter heat flux reanalysis, we suggest that waters with densities exceeding 27.8 kg/m3 are likely to be formed on the shelf in most years by the end of winter. High‐resolution numerical model data shows that the transformation of the Atlantic inflow along the northwest Icelandic shelf generates a dense plume whose waters feed into the NIJ. The bulk of the plume cascades down‐slope north of Iceland, funneled through deep cross‐shelf troughs, with some cascading occurring west of Iceland as well. During years of strong cascading events (2008, 2013, and 2016), the modeled dense plume potentially feeds up to 21% of the NIJ transport at the Siglunes and Kögur sections. Back‐tracked Lagrangian particle trajectories confirm that the western Icelandic shelf is a source of the NIJ. The dense plume transport and variability are found to be dependent on the total oceanic heat loss west of Iceland and along Denmark Strait.

Cyclonic eddies in the West Greenland Boundary Current System

AbstractThe boundary current system in the Labrador Sea plays an integral role in modulating convection in the interior basin. Four years of mooring data from the eastern Labrador Sea reveal persistent mesoscale variability in the West Greenland boundary current. Between 2014 and 2018, 197 mid-depth intensified cyclones were identified that passed the array near the 2000 m isobath. In this study, we quantify these features and show that they are the downstream manifestation of Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) cyclones. A composite cyclone is constructed revealing an average radius of 9 km, maximum azimuthal speed of 24 cm/s, and a core propagation velocity of 27 cm/s. The core propagation velocity is significantly smaller than upstream near Denmark Strait, allowing them to trap more water. The cyclones transport a 200-m thick lens of dense water at the bottom of the water column, and increase the transport of DSOW in the West Greenland boundary current by 17% relative to the background flow. Only a portion of the features generated at Denmark Strait make it to the Labrador Sea, implying that the remainder are shed into the interior Irminger Sea, are retroflected at Cape Farewell, or dissipate. A synoptic shipboard survey east of Cape Farewell, conducted in summer 2020, captured two of these features which shed further light on their structure and timing. This is the first time DSOW cyclones have been observed in the Labrador Sea—a discovery that could have important implications for interior stratification.

Water masses in the Atlantic Ocean: characteristics and distributions

Abstract. A large number of water masses are presented in the Atlantic Ocean, and knowledge of their distributions and properties is important for understanding and monitoring of a range of oceanographic phenomena. The characteristics and distributions of water masses in biogeochemical space are useful for, in particular, chemical and biological oceanography to understand the origin and mixing history of water samples. Here, we define the characteristics of the major water masses in the Atlantic Ocean as source water types (SWTs) from their formation areas, and map out their distributions. The SWTs are described by six properties taken from the biased-adjusted Global Ocean Data Analysis Project version 2 (GLODAPv2) data product, including both conservative (conservative temperature and absolute salinity) and non-conservative (oxygen, silicate, phosphate and nitrate) properties. The distributions of these water masses are investigated with the use of the optimum multi-parameter (OMP) method and mapped out. The Atlantic Ocean is divided into four vertical layers by distinct neutral densities and four zonal layers to guide the identification and characterization. The water masses in the upper layer originate from wintertime subduction and are defined as central waters. Below the upper layer, the intermediate layer consists of three main water masses: Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW), Subarctic Intermediate Water (SAIW) and Mediterranean Water (MW). The North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW, divided into its upper and lower components) is the dominating water mass in the deep and overflow layer. The origin of both the upper and lower NADW is the Labrador Sea Water (LSW), the Iceland–Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) and the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW). The Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) is the only natural water mass in the bottom layer, and this water mass is redefined as Northeast Atlantic Bottom Water (NEABW) in the north of the Equator due to the change of key properties, especially silicate. Similar with NADW, two additional water masses, Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) and Weddell Sea Bottom Water (WSBW), are defined in the Weddell Sea region in order to understand the origin of AABW.

Kinematic Structure and Dynamics of the Denmark Strait Overflow from Ship-Based Observations

AbstractThe dense outflow through Denmark Strait is the largest contributor to the lower limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, yet a description of the full velocity field across the strait remains incomplete. Here we analyze a set of 22 shipboard hydrographic–velocity sections occupied along the Látrabjarg transect at the Denmark Strait sill, obtained over the time period 1993–2018. The sections provide the first complete view of the kinematic components at the sill: the shelfbreak East Greenland Current (EGC), the combined flow of the separated EGC, and the North Icelandic Jet (NIJ), and the northward-flowing North Icelandic Irminger Current (NIIC). The total mean transport of overflow water is 3.54 ± 0.29 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 106m3s−1), comparable to previous estimates. The dense overflow is partitioned in terms of water mass constituents and flow components. The mean transports of the two types of overflow water—Atlantic-origin Overflow Water and Arctic-origin Overflow Water—are comparable in Denmark Strait, while the merged NIJ–separated EGC transports 55% more water than the shelfbreak EGC. A significant degree of water mass exchange takes place between the branches as they converge in Denmark Strait. There are two dominant time-varying configurations of the flow that are characterized as a cyclonic state and a noncyclonic state. These appear to be wind-driven. A potential vorticity analysis indicates that the flow through Denmark Strait is subject to symmetric instability. This occurs at the top of the overflow layer, implying that the mixing/entrainment process that modifies the overflow water begins at the sill.

Lagrangian Perspective on the Origins of Denmark Strait Overflow

AbstractThe Denmark Strait Overflow (DSO) is an important contributor to the lower limb of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Determining DSO formation and its pathways is not only important for local oceanography but also critical to estimating the state and variability of the AMOC. Despite prior attempts to understand the DSO sources, its upstream pathways and circulation remain uncertain due to short-term (3–5 days) variability. This makes it challenging to study the DSO from observations. Given this complexity, this study maps the upstream pathways and along-pathway changes in its water properties, using Lagrangian backtracking of the DSO sources in a realistic numerical ocean simulation. The Lagrangian pathways confirm that several branches contribute to the DSO from the north such as the East Greenland Current (EGC), the separated EGC (sEGC), and the North Icelandic Jet (NIJ). Moreover, the model results reveal additional pathways from south of Iceland, which supplied over 16% of the DSO annually and over 25% of the DSO during winter of 2008, when the NAO index was positive. The southern contribution is about 34% by the end of March. The southern pathways mark a more direct route from the near-surface subpolar North Atlantic to the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), and needs to be explored further, with in situ observations.

Representation of the Denmark Strait overflow in a <i>z</i>-coordinate eddying configuration of the NEMO (v3.6) ocean model: resolution and parameter impacts

Abstract. We investigate in this paper the sensitivity of the representation of the Denmark Strait overflow produced by a regional z-coordinate configuration of NEMO (version 3.6) to the horizontal and vertical grid resolutions and to various numerical and physical parameters. Three different horizontal resolutions, 1∕12, 1∕36, and 1/60∘, are respectively used with 46, 75, 150, and 300 vertical levels. In the given numerical set-up, the increase in the vertical resolution did not bring improvement at eddy-permitting resolution (1/12∘). We find a greater dilution of the overflow as the number of vertical level increases, and the worst solution is the one with 300 vertical levels. It is found that when the local slope of the grid is weaker than the slope of the topography the result is a more diluted vein. Such a grid enhances the dilution of the plume in the ambient fluid and produces its thickening. Although the greater number of levels allows for a better resolution of the ageostrophic Ekman flow in the bottom layer, the final result also depends on how the local grid slope matches the topographic slope. We also find that for a fixed number of levels, the representation of the overflow is improved when horizontal resolution is increased to 1∕36 and 1/60∘, with the most drastic improvements being obtained with 150 levels. With such a number of vertical levels, the enhanced vertical mixing associated with the step-like representation of the topography remains limited to a thin bottom layer representing a minor portion of the overflow. Two major additional players contribute to the sinking of the overflow: the breaking of the overflow into boluses of dense water which contribute to spreading the overflow waters along the Greenland shelf and within the Irminger Basin, and the resolved vertical shear that results from the resolution of the bottom Ekman boundary layer dynamics. This improves the accuracy of the calculation of the entrainment by the turbulent kinetic energy mixing scheme (as it depends on the local shear) and improves the properties of the overflow waters such that they more favourably compare with observations. At 300 vertical levels the dilution is again increased for all horizontal resolutions. The impact on the overflow representation of many other numerical parameters was tested (momentum advection scheme, lateral friction, bottom boundary layer parameterization, closure parameterization, etc.), but none had a significant impact on the overflow representation.

Viral infection of prokaryotic plankton during early formation of the North Atlantic Deep Water

Viral abundance was assessed in different water masses of the NW Atlantic, and the development of viral abundance, lytic viral infection and lysogeny was followed for the first ca. 5000 km (corresponding to ca. 50 yr in the oceanic conveyor belt) of the western branch of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). Viral abundance was significantly higher in the 100 m layer than in the NADW (2400-2700 m depth) and the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (2400-3600 m depth). The virus-to-prokaryote ratio (VPR) increased with depth, ranging from 32-43 for different water masses of the bathypelagic ocean, thus corroborating the enigma of high viral abundance in the dark ocean. The O2-minimum layer (250-600 m) also showed high viral abundance and VPRs. Viral abundance, a viral subgroup and VPRs decreased in a non-linear form with distance from the NADW origin. Viral production (range: 0.2-2.4 × 107 viruses l-1) and the fraction of lytically infected cells (range: 1-22%) decreased with increasing distance from the formation site of the NADW. Conservative estimations of virus-mediated mortality of prokaryotes in the NADW averaged 20 ± 12%. The fraction of the prokaryotic community with lysogens (i.e. harboring a functional viral DNA) in the NADW averaged 21 ± 14%. Hence, we conclude that (1) viral abundance and subgroups differ between water masses, (2) virus-mediated mortality of prokaryotes as well as lysogeny are significant in the dark ocean and (3) the lysogenic life strategy became more important than the lytic life style during the early formation of the NADW.

Dissolved iron in the North Atlantic Ocean and Labrador Sea along the GEOVIDE section (GEOTRACES section GA01)

Abstract. Dissolved Fe (DFe) samples from the GEOVIDE voyage (GEOTRACES GA01, May–June 2014) in the North Atlantic Ocean were analyzed using a seaFAST-pico™ coupled to an Element XR sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (SF-ICP-MS) and provided interesting insights into the Fe sources in this area. Overall, DFe concentrations ranged from 0.09±0.01 to 7.8±0.5 nmol L−1. Elevated DFe concentrations were observed above the Iberian, Greenland, and Newfoundland margins likely due to riverine inputs from the Tagus River, meteoric water inputs, and sedimentary inputs. Deep winter convection occurring the previous winter provided iron-to-nitrate ratios sufficient to sustain phytoplankton growth and lead to relatively elevated DFe concentrations within subsurface waters of the Irminger Sea. Increasing DFe concentrations along the flow path of the Labrador Sea Water were attributed to sedimentary inputs from the Newfoundland Margin. Bottom waters from the Irminger Sea displayed high DFe concentrations likely due to the dissolution of Fe-rich particles in the Denmark Strait Overflow Water and the Polar Intermediate Water. Finally, the nepheloid layers located in the different basins and at the Iberian Margin were found to act as either a source or a sink of DFe depending on the nature of particles, with organic particles likely releasing DFe and Mn particle scavenging DFe.

Evolution of Denmark Strait Overflow Cyclones and Their Relationship to Overflow Surges

AbstractMesoscale features present at the Denmark Strait sill regularly enhance the volume transport of the Denmark Strait overflow (DSO). They are important for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and ultimately, for the global climate system. Using a realistic numerical model, we find new evidence of the causal relationship between overflow surges (i.e., mesoscale features associated with high‐transport events) and DSO cyclones observed downstream. Most of the cyclones form at the Denmark Strait sill during overflow surges and, because of potential vorticity conservation and stretching of the water column, grow as they move equatorward. A fraction of the cyclones form downstream of the sill, when anticyclonic vortices formed during high‐transport events start collapsing. Regardless of their formation mechanism, DSO cyclones weaken starting roughly 150 km downstream of the sill, and potential vorticity is only materially conserved during the growth phase.