The θ-S relations in the northern seas: Implications for the deep circulation

Abstract

The θ-S relations for the cold, saline deep and bottom waters in the Greenland and Norwegian Seas and the Polar Ocean are displayed and discussed. The differences in θ-S curves are explained by a mixing of the deep water masses and by the injection of waters from above consisting of cold dense water formed by cooling and ice formation at the sea surface and entrained warm water from the intermediate layers. Estimates of the strength of the deep water circulation are based upon the changes in θ-S curves and on some assumptions about the transformations of the Bering Strait inflow in the Chukchi Sea and on the Alaskan shelf.