The halt of deep convection in the Greenland Sea: A natural experiment for the study of their causes and effects

There are only a few sites where the deep ocean is ventilated from the surface. The responsible process known as deep convection is recognized to be a key process on the Earth’s climate system, but still it is scarcely observed, and its good representation by global oceanographic and climate models remains unclear. In the Arctic Ocean, the halt of deep convection in the Greenland Sea during the last three decades serves as a natural experiment to study: (1) the conditions that drive the occurrence or not of deep convection and (2) the effects of the halt of deep convection on the thermohaline properties of the deep water masses and circulation both locally and in adjacent ocean basins. Combining oceanic and atmospheric in-situ data together with reanalysis data, we observe that not only on average the winter net heat losses from the ocean to the atmosphere (Qo) have decreased during the last three decades in the Greenland Sea ( Qo (before the 1980s- after the 1980s) = 25 Wm-2) but the intensity and number of strong cooling events (Qo 800Wm-2). This last value for convection reaching 2000 m in the Greenland Sea seems critical to make the mixed layer deepening from being a non-penetrative process to one arrested by baroclinic instabilities. Besides, changes in the wind stress curl and preconditioning for deep convection have occurred, hindering also the occurrence of deep convection. Concerning the effects of the halt of deep convection, hydrographic data reveal that the temperature between 2000 meters depth and the sea floor has risen by 0.3 C in the last 30 years, which is ten times higher than the temperature increase in the global ocean on average, and salinity rose by 0.02 because import of relatively warm and salty Arctic Ocean deep waters continued. The necessary transports to explain the observed changes suggest an increase of Arctic Ocean deep water transport that would have compensated the decrease in deep water formation rate after the 1980s. The effects of these changes in adjacent basins remain unstudied, but the bottom waters seem to be upwelled towards the slope and the Jan Mayen ridge, being an exit for the Greenland Sea deep waters.0,000

Strong-mixing induced deep ocean heat uptake events in the North Atlantic.

The deceleration of the upper ocean heat storage during the last decade has resulted in an active search for the ’missing heat’ in the deep ocean. Modeling work has provided new insights into the role of the central Pacific Ocean on the present hiatus in global warming and the efficient transfer of heat to the deep ocean, but recent studies have highlighted also the large contribution of the North Atlantic basin to these processes, mainly based on ocean observations. The deep ocean heat uptake (below 300 m) in the North Atlantic is not confined to the subpolar gyre region but extends to mid-latitudes of the Eastern North Atlantic (ENA), requiring an additional process for its explanation other than deep convection considered until now. Here, using oceanographic in-situ data, we describe a mechanism of heat and salt injection to the deep ocean after years of warming and saltening at the surface occurred both in regions of mode (43º-48ºN) and deep water (74º-76ºN) formation in the ENA. The mechanism, although punctual meditated by strong winter mixing events, is between 2 and 6 times higher than the 2000-2010 ocean heat uptake at depths of mode (300-700m) and deep water (>2000m) formation, contributing significantly to the observed deep ocean heat uptake in the North Atlantic. Nutrient, hydrographic and reanalysis data indicate that the strong mixing-induced deep ocean heat uptake events at areas of mode and deep water formation in the North Atlantic are connected through the northward propagation of salty ENA mode waters triggered by the contraction of the subpolar gyre reinforced by the occurrences of blocking anomalies in the ENA. Such connection is not unique of the last decade but observed also during the 1960s. Natural climate variability seems the ultimate driver of the strong mixing-induced deep ocean heat uptake events, although the anthropogenic global warming and its forcing on the Arctic sea-ice retreat and frequency of extreme weather events could modify their effects.0,000

Fine Particulate air Pollution is Associated with Higher Vulnerability to Atrial Fibrillation—The APACR Study

The acute effects and the time course of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) on atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF) predictors, including P-wave duration, PR interval duration, and P-wave complexity, were investigated in a community-dwelling sample of 106 nonsmokers. Individual-level 24-h beat-to-beat electrocardiogram (ECG) data were visually examined. After identifying and removing artifacts and arrhythmic beats, the 30-min averages of the AF predictors were calculated. A personal PM2.5 monitor was used to measure individual-level, real-time PM2.5 exposures during the same 24-h period, and corresponding 30-min average PM2.5 concentration were calculated. Under a linear mixed-effects modeling framework, distributed lag models were used to estimate regression coefficients (βs) associating PM2.5 with AF predictors. Most of the adverse effects on AF predictors occurred within 1.5–2 h after PM2.5 exposure. The multivariable adjusted βs per 10-µg/m3 rise in PM2.5 at lag 1 and lag 2 were significantly associated with P-wave complexity. PM2.5 exposure was also significantly associated with prolonged PR duration at lag 3 and lag 4. Higher PM2.5 was found to be associated with increases in P-wave complexity and PR duration. Maximal effects were observed within 2 h. These findings suggest that PM2.5 adversely affects AF predictors; thus, PM2.5 may be indicative of greater susceptibility to AF

From pole to pole : 33 years of physical oceanography onboard R/V Polarstern

Measuring temperature and salinity profiles in the world's oceans is crucial to understanding ocean dynamics and its influence on the heat budget, the water cycle, the marine environment and on our climate. Since 1983 the German research vessel and icebreaker Polarstern has been the platform of numerous CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth instrument) deployments in the Arctic and the Antarctic. We report on a unique data collection spanning 33 years of polar CTD data. In total 131 data sets (1 data set per cruise leg) containing data from 10 063 CTD casts are now freely available at doi: 10.1594/PANGAEA.860066. During this long period five CTD types with different characteristics and accuracies have been used. Therefore the instruments and processing procedures (sensor calibration, data validation, etc.) are described in detail. This compilation is special not only with regard to the quantity but also the quality of the data -the latter indicated for each data set using defined quality codes. The complete data collection includes a number of repeated sections for which the quality code can be used to investigate and evaluate long-term changes. Beginning with 2010, the salinity measurements presented here are of the highest quality possible in this field owing to the introduction of the OPTIMARE Precision Salinometer.Peer reviewe

The 1993 northeast water expedition. Data report on CTD measurements of RV 'Polarstern' cruises ARKTIS IX/2 and 3

In this summary the water masses on the northeast Greenland shelf are described with respect to their relationship to the surrounding waters in Fram Strait, Greenland Sea and Polar Arctic Ocean in order to give an introduction to the hydrography of the area. The northeast Greenland shelf seems to be occupied by waters of mainly local character. The properties of the upper water column are determined mainly during winter by cooling and vertical mixing. To maintain roughly similar salinities in the East Greenland Shelf Water, the fresh water input form local land runoff in summer has to be balanced on longer terms by salt input from brine release or entrainment of saltier waters from below. The deeper waters in the troughs show some resemblance to waters observed north of Ob Bank and in the Polar Arctic Ocean, but presently there is no evidence for a clear relation to these waters. Deep water formation by vertical convection and brine release can be excluded with respect to the Greenland Sea. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RN 9219(199) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman