The Nordic Seas An Integrated Perspective – Oceanography, Climatology, Biogeochemistry, and Modeling

About this book

The world's largest positive temperature deviation from zonal mean temperatures lies within the realm of the Nordic Seas, comprising bodies of water variously referred to as the Norwegian Sea, the Iceland Sea, and the Greenland Sea. Its role as a mixing cauldron for waters entering from the North Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans, and its function as a major source of deep and abyss water, make our understanding of the Nordic Seas a crucial element in advancing the knowledge of climate dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere. In this context, its small extent (covering only 0.75% of the area of the world's oceans) and its unique location, which allows for accessibility and detailed exploration, are of special significance. The current book speaks to that significance specifically and also to assessing the region's present and future response to, and influence on, global climate change. It is the first such work since B. G. Hurdle's groundbreaking The Nordic Seas (published in 1986).

Contents

Preface
      Helge Drange, Trond Dokken, Tore Furevik, Rüdiger Gerdes, and Wolfgang Berger vii
The Nordic Seas: An Overview
      Helge Drange, Trond Dokken, Tore Furevik, Rüdiger Gerdes, Wolfgang Berger, Atle Nesje, Kjell Arild Orvik, Øystein Skagseth, Ingunn Skjelvan, and Svein Østerhus   1

Oceanography
The Nordic Seas, Main Oceanographic Features
      Johan Blindheim and Svein Østerhus  11
Sea-Ice Extent and Variability in the Nordic Seas, 1967-2002
      Børge Kvingedal  39
Annual Sea Surface Height Variability in the Nordic Seas
      Kjell Arne Mork and Øystein Skagseth 51
The Mean Sea Level Pressure Gradient Across the Denmark Strait as an Indicator of Conditions in the North Icelandic Irminger Current
      Johan Blindheirn and Svend-Aage Maimberg 65
Dense-Water Production and Overflow From an Arctic Coastal Polynya in Storfjorden
      Ragnheid Skogsethl, Iker Fer, and Peter M . Haugan 73
Pathways and Export of Greenland Sea Water
      Tor Eldevik, Fiarnmetta Straneo, Anne Britt Sandø, and Tore Furevik  89

Meteorology
Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation Variability and Its Impacts on the Nordic Seas Ocean Climate – A Review
      Tore Furevik and J. Even Ø. Nilsen  105
Wintertime Nordic Seas Cyclone Variability and Its Impact on Oceanic Volume Transports Into the Nordic Seas
      Asgeir Sorteberg, Nils Gunnar Kvamsto, and Øyvind Byrkjedal 137

Biogeochemistry
A Review of the Inorganic Carbon Cycle of the Nordic Seas and Barents Sea
         IngunnS kjelvan, Are Olsen, Leif G. Anderson, Richard G. J. Bellerby, Eva Falck, Yoshie Kasajima, Caroline Kivimäe, Abdirahman Omar, Francisco Rey, K. Anders Olsson, Truls Johanessen, and Christoph Heinze 157
Sea-Ice and Brine Formation in Storfjorden: Implications for the Arctic Wintertime Air-Sea CO₂ Flux
      Abdirahman Omar, Truls Johannessen, Richard J. Bellerby, Are Olsen, Leif G. Anderson, and Caroline Kivimäe  177
Response of the Surface Ocean CO₂ System in the Nordic Seas and Northern North Atlantic to Climate Change
      Richard G. J. Bellerby, Are Olsen, Tore Furevik, and Leif G. Anderson   189

Modelling
Ocean General Circulation Modelling of the Nordic Seas
      Helge Drange, Rüdiger Gerdes, Yongq Giao, Michael Karcher, Frank Kauker, and Mats Bentsen   199
Simulated History of Convection in the Greenland and Labrador Seas, 1948-2001
      Rüdiger Gerdes, Jörg Hurka, Michael Karcher, Frank Kauker, and Cornelia Köberle  221
Seasonal to Decadal Temperature Variations in the Faroe-Shetland in flow Waters
      Hjalmar Hátún, Anne Britt Sandø, Helge Drange, and Mats Bentsen   239
Convective Chimneys and Plumes in the Northern Greenland S ea
      Ola M. Johannessen, Kjetil Lygre, and Tor Eldevik  251
Northern High-Latitude Climate Changes During the Holocene as Simulated by Circulation Models
      G. Lohmann, S.J . Lorenz, and M. Prange   273

Paleoceanography
Holocene Climate Variability in the Northern North Atlantic Region: A Review of Terrestrial and Marine Evidence
      Atle Nesje, Eystein Jansen, H. John B. Birks, Anne Elisabeth Bjune, Jostein Bakke, Carin Andersson, Svein Olaf Dahl, Dorthe Klitgaard Kristensen, Stein-Erik Lauritzenoy, Øyvind Lie, Bjørg Risebrobakken, and John-Inge Svendsen   289
Extent and Variability of the Meridional Atlantic Circulation in the Eastern Nordic Seas During Marine Isotope Stage 5 and Its Influence on the Inception of the Last Glacial
      Bjørg Risebrobakken, Trond Dokken, and Eystein Jansen   323
Exploratory Comparisons of Quantitative Temperature Estimates Over the Last Deglaciation in Norway and the Norwegian Sea
      Hilary H. Birks, Dorthe Klitgaard Kristensen, Trond M. Dokken, and Carin Andersson  341

Addendum
Vilhelm Bjerknes' Vision for Scientific Weather Prediction
      Sigbjørn Grønås 357

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