Herkunft von Schelfwasser und Pazifischem Wasser in der arktischen Salzgehaltsschichtung abgeleitet von stabilen Sauerstoffisotopen

Kurzbeschreibung

The purpose of the project is to provide a quantitative assessment of water mass distribution and circulation within the Arctic Ocean. Stable oxygen isotopes (δ18O) of the water are a conservative tracer and will be used together with hydro-chemical data to study the influence of shelf-derived freshwaters (i.e. river water and sea-ice derived melt/brine waters) and Pacific-derived waters. In doing so the impact of these waters on the halocline, the Atlantic layer and the Deep and Bottom waters of the Arctic Ocean will be quantified. It is known that there are inter-decadal variations in the distribution of the Pacific component in the Arctic Ocean but recently also strong variations were observed in freshwater distributions in the Transpolar Drift Stream in 2007 thus indicating also interannual variations. It is not known whether the variations observed 2007 are a permanent feature and whether they are related to the absence of Pacific waters during that time. The planned comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of freshwater and Pacific water in the Arctic Ocean halocline will thus help to further understand the impact and the potential feedbacks of the Arctic Ocean hydrography on Arctic and global climate change.

Start

Januar 2013

Ende

Dezember 2014

Bewilligungssumme (gesamt)

148000

Bewilligungssumme (GEOMAR)

148000

Zuwendungsgeber / Programm

DFG /

Koordination

null

Kontakt

Dorothea Bauch