Recent Change - Marine Circulation and Stratification

This chapter describes recent change in the circulation and stratification of the Baltic Sea. A recent warming trend in sea-surface waters has been clearly demonstrated by in situ measurements, remote sensing data and numerical models. Trends in sea-surface temperature (SST) for the past three to four decades based on remote sensing data generally agree with trends determined from in situ observations. Models suggest the current warming within the Baltic Sea lies within the range experienced during the past 500 years. The salinity and stratification of the deep waters are strongly linked to the major inflows of North Sea water that occur sporadically and bring high-saline water into the deep layers of the Baltic Sea. The major inflows normally occur during winter and spring and bring cold oxygen-rich waters into the deep basins. Since 1996, large inflows have also occurred during summer, bringing in warm low-oxygen water

Simulation of nutrient transport from different depths during an upwelling event in the Gulf of Finland**This work was sponsored by the Estonian Science Foundation (grant No. 7467 & grant No. 7328) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant No. 09-05-00479).

AbstractNumerical simulation experiments with a high-resolution circulation model were carried out to study nutrient transport from different depths to the surface 10-m layer during an upwelling event along the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland in July 1999. The initial nutrient distribution is based on field measurements performed in the north-western part of the Gulf. Wind forcing covering the period of the upwelling along the northern coast was turned through 180° to simulate an upwelling along the southern coast. The simulation results showed that the main phosphorus transport to the upper 10-m layer occurred from depths shallower than 30m for the upwelling events along both the northern and the southern coasts. Nitrogen transport to the upper 10-m layer was the largest from depths of 40–55m for the upwelling along the northern and 40–65m for the upwelling along the southern coast. Simulated cumulative volume transports to the upper 10-m layer from different depths showed that the contribution from deeper layers was larger in the case of the upwelling along the southern coast. The reduction of wind stress had a bigger influence on water transport from the deeper layers

A view of the Canary Basin thermocline circulation in winter

During January and February 1989 the recirculation of the subtropical gyre in the eastern North Atlantic was surveyed with a three-ship experiment. The analysis of hydrographic measurements and velocity data from a shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler reveals the synoptic-scale circulation patterns and water mass distributions in the Canary Basin. The geostrophic transport stream function estimated with a horizontally varying reference level of no motion highlights the major currents in three layers representing the vertical structure of the horizontal circulation. The classical circulation scheme is shown by the stream function in the upper 200 m: the Azores, Canary, and North Equatorial currents. Unlike the deep-penetrating Azores Current, the Canary Current and the North Equatorial Current are restricted to the upper 200 m. Both carry North Atlantic Central Water along the water mass boundary with South Atlantic Central Water. South Atlantic Central Water flows through the passage between the Cape Verde archipelago and Africa via narrow currents into the area north of 14.5°N. At the southern edge of the subtropical gyre we identify an eastward flow of Antarctic Intermediate Water between 700 and 1200 m

Simulated variations of the Baltic Sea halocline during 1961-2007

Variationer i Östersjöns salthalt och haloklindjup under perioden 1961-2007 harstuderats med hjälp av Rossby Centre Ocean Model. De största trenderna i måndadsmedelvärdet avmedelsalthalten i de översta 15 m hittades i Rigabukten samt i egentliga Östersjön. I de nordligastedelarna av Östersjön kunde ej någon signifikant trend påvisas. Perioden 1970-1975 uppvisade en grundhaloklin, emedan en djup haloklin kunde identifieras under perioden 1990-1995. Skillnaden i djupmellan de båda perioderna var över 15 m i egentliga Östersjön. Modellsimuleringarna antyder attmedelytsalthalten i Östersjön är rumsligt styrd av den ackumulerade flodtillrinningen, medan salthaltenunder haloklinen i egentliga Östersjön styrs av den zonala medelvinden och den absolutavindhastigheten. Den zonala vindhastighetens påverkan på det genomsnittliga haloklindjupet iegentliga Östersjön är måttlig och flodtillrinningens påverkan är låg.The variations in the Baltic Sea salinity and the mean halocline depth during 1961-2007 are studied using Rossby Centre Ocean model. The largest trend in the monthly mean salinity averaged over the top 15 m was found in the Gulf of Riga and Baltic proper, while the trend in the northernmost part was non-existant. A period with shallow halocline in the Baltic Sea during 1970-1975 was identified and a period with deep halocline during 1990-1995 with the difference exceeding morethan 15 m in the Baltic proper between the two time-periods. Model simulation indicated that the mean surface salinity in the Baltic Sea is spatially controlled by the accumulated river runoff, while the mean salinity below the halocline in the Baltic proper by the mean zonal and absolute wind speed. The halocline depth in the Baltic Sea is affected significantly by the freshwater content and absolute wind speed. The impact of the mean zonal wind speed to the mean halocline depth in the Baltic proper is moderate, while the impact of runoff is low

Simulation of nutrient transport from different depths during an upwelling event in the Gulf of Finland

Numerical simulation experiments with a high-resolution circulation model were carried out to study nutrient transport from different depths to the surface 10-m layer during an upwelling event along the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland in July 1999. The initial nutrient distribution is based on field measurements performed in the north-western part of the Gulf. Wind forcing covering the period of the upwelling along the northern coast was turned through 180° to simulate an upwelling along the southern coast. The simulation results showed that the main phosphorus transport to the upper 10-m layer occurred from depths shallower than 30 m for the upwelling events along both the northern and the southern coasts. Nitrogen transport to the upper 10-m layer was the largest from depths of 40-55 m for the upwelling along the northern and 40-65 m for the upwelling along the southern coast. Simulated cumulative volume transports to the upper 10-m layer from different depths showed that the contribution from deeper layers was larger in the case of the upwelling along the southern coast. The reduction of wind stress had a bigger influence on water transport from the deeper layers