OUTFLOW OF DENSE WATER FROM THE STORFJORD IN SVALBARD - A NUMERICAL-MODEL STUDY

Recent investigations on deep water renewal point to the important rol e of dense water formed on the continental shelves surrounding the Arc tic Ocean. In this investigation a hydrostatic, reduced gravity, primi tive equation model for the simulation of the spatial and temporal evo lution of gravity plumes on a continental slope is applied and compare d to the observed outflow of a plume of dense water, originally formed in Storfjorden (Svalbard), into the Greenland Sea toward Fram Strait, The vertically integrated, nonlinear, rotational model accounts for t he entrainment of water mass properties from a spatially structured bu t stagnant ambient water body, This study reveals that part of the den se water, in accordance with earlier estimates, spreads northward alon g the eastern side of Fram Strait. Another branch of the plume, guided by the topography, flows into a deep trench east of the Knipovitch Ri dge to the west of Svalbard. During its descent to depths of more than 2000 m the plume entrains three different water masses (East Spitsber gen Water, Atlantic Water, and Norwegian Sea Deep Water) and hence cha nges its water mass characteristics. The volume of deep water produced by the mechanism discussed here depends not only on the amount of ini tially formed brine-enriched shelf water, but also on the water mass c haracteristics of the latter.