Physical oceanography and water exchange in the Northern Kvark Strait

• The Northern Kvark connects the very fresh Bothnian Bay to the slightly saltier Bothilian Sea in the northern Baltic Sea. Intense field experiments were made in the strait in May 2003 and October-December 2004 to describe the physical oceanography of the strait. Three different hydrographic regimes were identified and first-order analyses were made on each regime, neglecting friction, rotation, and horizontal gradients. The strait is shown to be barotropically blocked about 45% of the time. The rest of the time there is vertical stratification, which can be described either by two homogenous layers or by linear density and velocity profiles. The flows in the two stratified regimes are shown to be hydraulically controlled. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

strait-flows

hydraulic controls

barotropic blocking

two-laver flow

taylor-goldstein equation

northern kvark

baltic sea

maximal 2-layer exchange

baltic sea

flow

contraction

fluctuations

circulation

deep

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)