June 11, 2018: FB1 seminar

11:00, Lecture Hall, Düsternbrooker Weg 20

Abstract:

Located at the Arctic gateway, the Lofoten Basin represents the largest reservoir of warm and salty Atlantic Water in the Nordic Seas, thus playing a crucial role in the oceanic and atmospheric heat transport to the Arctic. This region is subjected to important winter heat losses, as well as an intense mesoscale activity.

From summer 2013 to fall 2017, autonomous gliders have been regularly deployed by the University of Bergen in the Lofoten Basin (10 missions, 6-month duration on average). Three dedicated cruises, as well as four glider missions were carried out in the framework of the Provolo project [http://www.uib.no/en/rg/fysos/97330/provolo].

In this talk, I will present my present research activities as part of Provolo, focusing on water mass transformation, and the characterization of meso- to submesoscale variability in the Lofoten Basin. First, I will introduce the hydrographical context of the Nordic Seas, describing the role of the Lofoten Basin in the Atlantic Water transformation. Secondly, from repeated glider sampling, I will examine the dynamics of a deep anticyclonic vortex located in the central basin, yet recognized as permanent. Finally, I will show result from one year of continuous glider sampling crossing the turbulent, and poorly constrained, poleward frontal flow of Atlantic Water over the Mohns Ridge.

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