Eastern Gotland Basin case study of thermal variability in the wake of deep water intrusions

The warm and saline deep inflow into the Eastern Gotland Basin (EGB), which lasted from the end of November 1997 until the beginning of May 1998, was the first of a series of warm deep water inflows. Temporal fluctuations of the deep circulation were monitored at 170 m depth by two current meter moorings deployed at the north-eastern and south-western rim. The three-dimensional structure of stratification parameters was inferred from the comparison of two high-resolution hydrographic surveys carried out before and during the end of the 1997/1998 inflow event. The results indicate that near-bottom isopycnals were lifted more than 50 m during the inflow up to a depth of 170–180 m. Since the basin is enclosed at 170 m depth this implies a complete deep water renewal. Detected warm-water intrusions are shown to enhance the temperature variability on isopycnal surfaces at intermediate depth, creating strong inverse temperature gradients below the halocline in an environment with stable stratification due to salinity. Corresponding Turner angles suggest that diffusive convection may significantly contribute to diapycnal mixing in this region. In contrast, for the deepest near-bottom layers only marginally affected by intrusions, basin-scale budgets of heat and salinity suggest comparable diffusivities (κs = 1.3–2.1 × 10− 5 m2/s for salt and κs = 1.6–2.8 × 10− 5 m2/s for potential temperature), implying that double-diffusion does not play a major role in mixing there. For the intermediate layer between 90 and 170 m, where the budget method could not be adopted, we applied an idealized model for the decay of temperature variance associated with the intrusions. The results indicated that the intrusions decay within a few weeks, corresponding to vertical diffusivities of a few times 10− 5 m2/s.