Physical properties of the formation of water exchange between Atlantic and Arctic Ocean

Physical regularities of water exchange between the North Atlantic (NA) and Arctic Ocean (AO) in 1958–2009 are analyzed on the basis of numerical experiments with an eddy-permitting model of ocean circulation. Variations in the heat and salt fluxes in the Greenland Sea near the Fram Strait caused by atmospheric forcing generate baroclinic modes of ocean currents in the 0–300 m layer, which stabilize the response of the ocean to atmospheric forcing. This facilitates the conservation of water exchange between the NA and AO at a specific climatic level. A quick response of dense water outflow into the deep layers of the NA through the Denmark Strait to the variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index was revealed on the monthly scale. A response on a time scale of 39 months was also revealed. The quick response on the NAO index variation was interrupted in 1969–1978, which was related to the Great Salinity Anomaly. It was shown that transverse oscillations of the Norwegian Atlantic Current significantly influence the formation of intermediate dense waters in the Greenland and Norwegian seas (GNS). The dense water outflow by bottom current (BC) to the deep layers of the NA through the Faroe Channels with a time lag of 1 year correlates with the transversal oscillations of the Norwegian Current front. The mass transport of the BC outflow from the Faroe Channels to the NA can serve as an integral indicator of the formation and sink of new portions of dense waters formed as a result of mixing of warm saline Atlantic waters and cold freshened Arctic waters in the GNS.