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Arctic–Subarctic Ocean Fluxes pp 65–85Cite as

Variation of Measured Heat Flow Through the Fram Strait Between 1997 and 2006

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The northernmost extension of the Atlantic-wide overturning circulation consists of the flow of Atlantic Water through the Arctic Ocean. Two passages form the gateways for warm and saline Atlantic Water to the Arctic: the shallow Barents Sea and the Fram Strait which is the only deep connection between the Arctic and the World Ocean. The flows through both passages rejoin in the northern Kara Sea and continue in a boundary current along the Arctic Basin rim and ridges (Aagaard 1989; Rudels et al. 1994). In the Arctic, dramatic water mass conversions take place and the warm and saline Atlantic Water is modified by cooling, freezing and melting as well as by admixture of river run-off to become shallow Polar Water, ice and saline deep water. The return flow of these waters to the south through the Fram Strait and the Canadian Archipelago closes the Atlantic Water loop through the Arctic.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Ursula Schauer, Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller & Eberhard Fahrbach

  2. Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland

    Waldemar Walczowski & Jan Piechura

  3. Norwegian Polar Institute, Tromsoe, Norway

    Edmond Hansen

Authors
  1. Ursula Schauer
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  2. Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller
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  3. Waldemar Walczowski
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  4. Eberhard Fahrbach
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  5. Jan Piechura
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  6. Edmond Hansen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, NR33 0HT, Lowestoft, UK

    Robert R. Dickson

  2. University of Hamburg, D-20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Jens Meincke

  3. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Peter Rhines

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Schauer, U., Beszczynska-Möller, A., Walczowski, W., Fahrbach, E., Piechura, J., Hansen, E. (2008). Variation of Measured Heat Flow Through the Fram Strait Between 1997 and 2006. In: Dickson, R.R., Meincke, J., Rhines, P. (eds) Arctic–Subarctic Ocean Fluxes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6774-7_4

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