Type
Text
Type
Dissertation
Advisor
Wilson, Robert | Flagg, Charles N | Rossby, Thomas | Hallberg, Robert | Wolfe, Christopher.
Date
2014-12-01
Keywords
ADCP, Faroe Shetland Channel, Iceland Faroes Ridge, volume flux | Physical oceanography
Department
Department of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
Language
en_US
Source
This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree.
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/11401/77790
Publisher
The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY.
Format
application/pdf
Abstract
The pathways and variability of warm Atlantic Water crossing over the Iceland Faroes Scotland Ridge to the Nordic Seas are an important component of the large scale Atlantic circulation. This dissertation presents the spatial and temporal characteristics of the currents crossing the ridge from both an observational and modeling perspective. Previous analyses of the volume flux across the ridge have relied on moored velocity data and standard hydrographic sections. A unique velocity dataset collected weekly by the M/F Norrona along repeated routes significantly improves the spatial resolution of observations between Iceland and Denmark. Output from a global climate model complements this work by establishing the mean circulation between the observational sections. Following an introduction in Chapter 1, an analysis of the first 4.5 years of weekly observational data collected by the Norrona program is presented in Chapter 2. Surface inflows enter over the eastern half of each section and transport 1.5± 0.19 and 4.6± 0.46 Sv through the Faroe Shetland Channel (FSC) and across the Iceland Faroes Ridge (IFR), respectively. Fluctuations in the FSC inflows depend primarily on the southward flux over the Faroe shelf and slope, while the inflow width drives IFR interannual variability. The description of regional circulation is expanded southward in Chapter 3, using historic data from an additional ship of opportunity. Inflow paths from the North Atlantic Current to the Nordic Seas are presented. Output from a high resolution (1/12o), hourly, data assimilating run of the ECCO2 configuration of the MITgcm enhances the description of the mean flow between the observational routes and offers insight into the mesoscale features which perturb the time averaged circulation in Chapter 4. A streamline analysis in Chapter 5, predicts the flow paths from the IFR around the north of the Faroes and into the FSC. The recirculation of Atlantic Water onto the Faroes shelf and slope is shown to be split between a larger component (~1 Sv) , which is entrained into the Shetland Slope Current over the eastern FSC, and a smaller flow (~0.5 Sv), which circulates anticyclonically around the Faroes. | 122 pages
Recommended Citation
Childers, Katelin, "Circulation and Transport Across the Iceland Faroes Shetland Ridge" (2014). Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions). 3568.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/stony-brook-theses-and-dissertations-collection/3568