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One of the most important aspects of the East Greenland Current is the amount of sea ice it exports into the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a major pathway for sea ice to leave the Arctic. It is estimated that more than 90% of the Arctic Sea Ice exported from the Arctic takes place within the East Greenland Current. [ 2 ]
Thermohaline forcing refers to density-gradient driven motions, whereby density is determined by the temperature (‘thermo’) and salt concentration (‘haline’) of the water. Heat and freshwater fluxes at the ocean's surface play therefore a key role in forming ocean currents. Those currents exert a major effect on regional and global climate.
Ocean surface currents Distinctive white lines trace the flow of surface currents around the world. Visualization showing global ocean currents from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2012, at sea level, then at 2,000 m (6,600 ft) below sea level Animation of circulation around ice shelves of Antarctica
Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean's surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water's density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.
The Labrador Sea is affected by seasonality and will experience greater freshwater imports during the late spring and early summer with riverine runoff and glacial melt. [2] The ocean circulation in the subpolar regions in the North Atlantic have seasonal variations due to the cold, freshwater Labrador Current and the warm, salty North Atlantic ...
Those currents comprise half of the global thermohaline circulation that includes the flow of major ocean currents, the other half being the Southern Ocean overturning circulation. [ 2 ] The AMOC is composed of a northward flow of warm, more saline water in the Atlantic's upper layers and a southward, return flow of cold, salty, deep water.
A system of ocean currents that transports heat northward across the North Atlantic could collapse by mid-century, according to a new study, and scientists have said before that such a collapse ...
Thermohaline circulation (THC) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes. [1] [2] The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo-referring to temperature and -haline referring to salt content, factors which together determine the density of sea water.