Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
11008181 | Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers | 2018 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
We identify a newly described current, the Atlantic Inflow Current (AIC), a persistent pathway of Atlantic Water from the European Slope onto the Malin Shelf. Using drifters and gliders we examine the vertical and horizontal structure of the AIC and use Lagrangian statistics to quantify lateral mixing along its path. We estimate this current to have a transport of approximately 0.2â¯Sv, advecting 2.8 TW of heat onto the shelf (referenced to 7â¯Â°C) and 2.4 kT/day of the limiting nutrient, nitrate. This nutrient-rich AIC joins the Irish Coastal Current, continuing into the Minch and the outer Hebridean Shelf before ultimately entering the North Sea. The biological consequences of the influx of water masses and nutrients onto the shelf can range from altering primary production, and subsequent food web dynamics, to recruitment of fish larvae from oceanic water. A better understanding of the current dynamics described here is crucial for the assessment of shelf sea primary production and its impacts on carbon draw-down as well as recruitment for commercially important fisheries.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geology
Authors
M. Porter, A.C. Dale, S. Jones, B. Siemering, M.E. Inall,