Séminaire
Located at the Arctic gateway, the Lofoten Basin represents the largest reservoir of warm and salty Atlantic Water in the Nordic Seas, thus playing a crucial role in the oceanic and atmospheric heat transport to the Arctic. This region is subjected to important winter heat losses, as well as an intense mesoscale activity. From summer 2013 to fall 2017, autonomous gliders have been regularly deployed by the University of Bergen in the Lofoten Basin (10 missions, 6-month duration on average). Three dedicated cruises (CTD, LADCP and microstructure), as well as four out of the ten glider missions were carried out in the framework of the
Provolo project
. During the September 2017 cruise, biogeochemical samples of nutrients and carbon were taken. In addition, a glider mission equipped with turbulence and bio-optical sensors collected high-resolution data for 5 days across a permanent eddy.
In this talk, I will present my present research activities as part of Provolo, focusing on water mass transformation, and ocean dynamics of the Lofoten Basin from meso- to dissipation scale. First, I will introduce the hydrographical context of the Nordic Seas, describing the role of the Lofoten Basin in the Atlantic Water transformation. Secondly, from repeated glider sampling, I will examine the dynamics of a deep anticyclonic vortex located in the central basin, yet recognized as permanent. Finally, I will examine the biogeochemical characteristics of this eddy and quantify turbulent vertical fluxes of nutrients from the microstructure glider.
testor@locean-ipsl.upmc.fr