The East Greenland Polar Front in autumn
By: by Robert G. Paquette, Robert H. Bourke, John L. Newton, and William F. Perdue
Contributors: Bourke, Robert H.; Newton, John L.; Perdue, William F.; Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Dept. of Oceanography
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1985
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Subjects: FRONTS(OCEANOGRAPHY)
Other titles: NPS-68-85-021.
Description: Closely spaced salinity and temperature measurements in the region of the East Greenland      Polar Front from 75 N to 79 N in October-November 1981 are presented. The Return      Atlantic Current (RAC), having a core of relatively warm and saline Atlantic Intermediate      Water (AIW) (T = 0.5 to 3.0 C, S = 34.0 to 35. 0), was found everywhere along a steep      front separating it from the colder, fresher Polar Water. A narrow frontal jet was found to      have velocities greater than 0.80 m/s where the station density was great enough to resolve its      concentrated character. Notable fine structure was present, especially in the warm AIW just      east of the front. A cold, saline water, forming a knee in the temperature-salinity correlation,      was present in the upper margins of the RAC. The knee is formed primarily by warm AIW or      Atlantic water flowing under the upper layers of water flowing form the Arctic Ocean.      Calculations are presented to show that an initially isothermal underflow could be modified to      a thick thermocline by double diffusion. Calculations of the rate of cooling of fine- structure      elements by double diffusion indicate that the fine structure would have a limited lifetime      (about 12 days) if its waters were not continually replenished.
Notes: Title from cover.

"NPS-68-85-021."

"June 1985."

AD A157 733.

Includes bibliographical references.

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