IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-021-27641-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sea-ice retreat suggests re-organization of water mass transformation in the Nordic and Barents Seas

Author

Listed:
  • G. W. K. Moore

    (University of Toronto
    University of Toronto Mississauga)

  • K. Våge

    (Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen
    Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research)

  • I. A. Renfrew

    (School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia)

  • R. S. Pickart

    (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Abstract

Water mass transformation in the Nordic and Barents Seas, triggered by air-sea heat fluxes, is an integral component of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These regions are undergoing rapid warming, associated with a retreat in ice cover. Here we present an analysis covering 1950−2020 of the spatiotemporal variability of the air-sea heat fluxes along the region’s boundary currents, where water mass transformation impacts are large. We find there is an increase in the air-sea heat fluxes along these currents that is a function of the currents’ orientation relative to the axis of sea-ice change suggesting enhanced water mass transformation is occurring. Previous work has shown a reduction in heat fluxes in the interior of the Nordic Seas. As a result, a reorganization seems to be underway in where water mass transformation occurs, that needs to be considered when ascertaining how the AMOC will respond to a warming climate.

Suggested Citation

  • G. W. K. Moore & K. Våge & I. A. Renfrew & R. S. Pickart, 2022. "Sea-ice retreat suggests re-organization of water mass transformation in the Nordic and Barents Seas," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27641-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27641-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27641-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-27641-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Caroline V. B. Gjelstrup & Mikael K. Sejr & Laura Steur & Jørgen Schou Christiansen & Mats A. Granskog & Boris P. Koch & Eva Friis Møller & Mie H. S. Winding & Colin A. Stedmon, 2022. "Vertical redistribution of principle water masses on the Northeast Greenland Shelf," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Jie Huang & Robert S. Pickart & Zhuomin Chen & Rui Xin Huang, 2023. "Role of air-sea heat flux on the transformation of Atlantic Water encircling the Nordic Seas," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Marius Årthun & Helene Asbjørnsen & Léon Chafik & Helen L. Johnson & Kjetil Våge, 2023. "Future strengthening of the Nordic Seas overturning circulation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27641-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.