The physical oceanography of the northern Baffin Bay-Nares Strait region

Abstract

A dense network of conductivity-temperature-depth measurements was conducted from Baffin Bay northward to 82 deg 09 min N at the entrance to the Lincoln Sea, in the most comprehensive physical oceanographic survey ever performed in the northern Baffin Bay-Nares Strait region. These data indicate Nares Strait Atlantic Intermediate Water and Arctic Basin Polar Water to be derived from Arctic Basin waters via the Canadian Archipelago, whereas the West Greenland Current (WGC) is the source of the comparatively dilute West Greenland Current Atlantic Intermediate Water and West Greenland Current Polar Water fractions. Baffin Bay Surface Water is found seasonally throughout northern Baffin Bay. Recurvature of component branches of the WGC, which attains a maximum baroclinic transport of 0.7 Sv, occurs primarily in Melville Bay (0.2 Sv), south of the Carey Islands (0.1 Sv) and ultimately in Smith Sound (0.2 Sv). The Baffin Current originates as an ice-edge jet in Smith Sound and is augmented by net outflow from Smith, Jones and Lancaster Sounds at rates of 0.3 Sv, 0.3 Sv and 1.1 Sv, respectively. Circulation in Smith, Jones and Lancaster Sounds can be described in terms of the Geostrophic Estuarine Circulation Model. The North Water is caused by the combined influences of near-surface layer enthalpy and mechanical ice removal. KeywordsL Sea water temperature; Oceanographic data; Straits; Sounds(Waterways); Ocean currents