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35-409: The lack of flat lowlands in the area limits the potential for agriculture, which is mostly restricted to low-intensity sheep grazing near the fjords. Good natural harbors in many of the fjords and their proximity to fishing areas are vital for the local economy. The Westfjords are very sparsely populated, even by Icelandic standards; the total population in 2020 was 7,115. The district capital and by far

70-477: A line of up to 16 moorings across Fram Strait. The mooring line has been maintained since 1997 with a spacing of roughly 25 km . At up to five different depths, the moored array measures the water velocity, temperature, and salinity of the water column. Computer simulations suggest that 60 to 70% of the fluctuation of the sea ice flowing through the Fram Strait is correlated with a 6–7 year fluctuation in which

105-671: A maximum depth of 5,550 m (18,210 ft) ±14 m (46 ft)(See also: Litke Deep ). The Yermak Plateau , with a mean depth of about 650 m, lies to the northwest of Spitsbergen. Historically, Fram Strait was home to a large population of Bowhead whales , then called the Greenland right whale . By mid-17th century, the Svalbard population of Bowhead whales was reduced to near extinction by excessive whaling (See also: Whaling in Spitsbergen ; Smeerenburg ). Western Fram Strait may be

140-409: A minimum from January to March. This interannual variability occurs because during the summer months the sea ice melts back quite a bit, and it results in a lot of drifting sea ice that can be easily exported through Fram Strait during the windy times of October through December. During the winter months, the sea ice refreezes together and thus the ability to have numerous sea ice drifts decreases due to

175-508: A profound impact on the wind field over the Arctic. During high NAO/AO indexes the cyclonic wind field over the Arctic becomes very strong, this transports more ice out through Fram Strait and into the EGC. During low NAO/AO indexes the cyclonic wind field is quite small and thus the transport out of the Fram Strait diminishes greatly. Current research in the EGC is largely focused on freshwater fluxes (in

210-509: A wintering ground for this Critically Endangered population. The use of the name "Fram Strait" for the passage between Spitsbergen and Greenland appears to have come into common use in the oceanographic literature in the 1970s. Fram Strait is named after the Norwegian ship Fram . In an 1893 expedition led by Fridtjof Nansen , the Fram drifted for two years across the Arctic before exiting

245-602: Is AW that has entered the Arctic via the North Atlantic and has been circulating in the Arctic and is now being pushed out of the Arctic via the EGC. The layer beneath the Atlantic Water is simply referred to as the Deep Water where the salinity and temperatures are relatively constant. This level typically extends from 1000 meters to the bottom of the ocean. The temperatures in this bottom level are normally below 0 °C and

280-641: Is a cold, low- salinity current that extends from Fram Strait (~80N) to Cape Farewell (~60N). The current is located off the eastern coast of Greenland along the Greenland continental margin. The current cuts through the Nordic Seas (the Greenland and Norwegian Seas ) and through the Denmark Strait . The current is of major importance because it directly connects the Arctic to the Northern Atlantic, it

315-453: Is a major contributor to sea ice export out of the Arctic, and it is a major freshwater sink for the Arctic. The EGC is composed of a mixture of three distinct water masses . The water masses are Polar Water, Atlantic Water, and Deep Water. These water masses can be clearly seen throughout the EGC's tract southward, however, the upper layer water masses do change some due to atmospheric interaction along with inflow from other water sources in

350-533: Is seen in the EGC comes from two different sources. The first source of Atlantic Water originates from westward directed Atlantic water in the West Spitsbergen Current . This current sends Atlantic water (AW) into the Fram Strait , and because it is more dense than the surface Polar water it sinks to an intermediate depth. The second source of AW in the EGC originates from recirculated AW in the Arctic. This

385-694: The Arctic Ocean . The northward velocity is maximum in winter, so the heat transport is highest in winter. On the west side of the strait, the East Greenland Current flows southward on the Greenland Shelf. The current carries is relatively cold and fresh water out of the Arctic that corresponds to a water mass called Polar water. The Fram Strait area is located downwind of the Transpolar Drift and therefore covered by multi-year ice in

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420-527: The Icelandic Low Pressure system extends eastward into the Barents Sea . The amount of sea ice passing through the Fram Strait varies from year to year and affects the global climate through its influence on thermohaline circulation . The warming in the Fram Strait region has likely amplified Arctic shrinkage , and serves as a positive feedback mechanism for transporting more internal energy to

455-576: The prime meridian . The Greenland and Norwegian Seas lie south of Fram Strait, while the Nansen Basin of the Arctic Ocean lies to the north. Fram Strait is noted for being the only deep connection between the Arctic Ocean and the World Oceans . The dominant oceanographic features of the region are the West Spitsbergen Current on the east side of the strait and the East Greenland Current on

490-617: The Arctic and Fram Strait is 2545 m deep. The Knipovich Ridge , the northernmost section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge , extends northward through the strait to connect to the Nansen-Gakkel Ridge of the Arctic Ocean. A rift valley , caused by sea-floor spreading , runs adjacent and parallel to the Knipovich Ridge. The Molloy Deep within Fram Strait is the deepest point of the Arctic. This small basin at 79°8.5′N and 2°47′E has

525-514: The Arctic through what is now known as Fram Strait. According to glaciologist and geographer Moira Dunbar , an early adopter of the name, the name "Fram Strait" originated in the Russian scientific literature. While in common use, particularly in the oceanographic scientific literature, the name appears to be unofficial. Fram Strait is the only deep-water connection between the World Oceans and

560-657: The Arctic. Other gateways are the Barents Sea Opening (BSO), the Bering Strait and various small channels in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago . They are all shallower than Fram Strait, leaving Fram Strait the only route by which deep water can be exchanged between the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. This exchange occurs in both directions, with specific water masses identified with specific regions flowing between

595-455: The EGC, these specific sources do not penetrate very well into the central Greenland Sea where the deep convection takes place. They then decide that there must be some other freshwater influence in the central Greenland Sea. They believe it may be from solid sea ice being transported to the central Greenland Sea and then melting. Solid sea ice is very mobile, and winds can easily direct its flow along with ocean currents. Previous thoughts were that

630-486: The Fram Strait." The Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) have maintained long term monitoring measurements in Fram Strait to obtain volume- and energy-budgets through this choke point. The observations also serve to assess the development of the Arctic Ocean as a sink for terrestrial organic carbon . The AWI=NPI observing array consists of

665-467: The Greenland Sea Gyre will be recirculated into the EGC once again in the future near Fram Strait. The general movement of the EGC is southward along the eastern Greenland continental margin. The currents are quite strong with annual averages of 6–12 cm/s in the upper part of the EGC (<500 m) with inter-annual maximums of 20–30 cm/s. It was estimated in 1991 by Hopkins et al. that

700-551: The Nordic Seas. The top 150 meters of the EGC is considered polar water and it is cold and low in salinity. The lowness in salinity has a lot to do with freshwater run off from sea ice melting, river runoff, and Pacific water flux and it is cold due to air-sea interactions while in the Arctic . Typical characteristics for the EGC Polar water are a temperature between 0 °C and –1.7 °C (e.g. freezing point of low-salinity sea water), and

735-630: The North Atlantic Ocean. It is a major pathway for sea ice to leave the Arctic. It is estimated that more than 90% of the Arctic Sea Ice exported from the Arctic takes place within the East Greenland Current. The volume of ice exported on an annual scale is a strong function of multiple atmospheric variables (wind, temperature, etc.) and oceanic variables and dynamics. There is a maximum of ice-flux export from October through December and

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770-581: The Oceans. Water with characteristics of the deep Canadian and Eurasian Basins of the Arctic are observed leaving the Arctic in the deep western side of Fram Strait, for example. On the eastern side, cold water from the Norwegian Sea is observed entering the Arctic below the West Spitsbergen Current. In recent years the nature and interactions of these water masses have been changing, symptoms of

805-461: The Westfjords are the Arctic tern , northern fulmar , black-legged kittiwake , Atlantic puffin , common guillemot , black guillemot , red-necked phalarope and ducks such as the common eider and harlequin duck . 65°44′15″N 22°10′14″W  /  65.73750°N 22.17056°W  / 65.73750; -22.17056 East Greenland Current The East Greenland Current ( EGC )

840-582: The changes occurring with the ocean's climate. Warm, salty water is transported northward from the Atlantic by the West Spitsbergen Current in the east of the strait. The West Spitsbergen Current is the northernmost branch of the North Atlantic Current system. This water forms a water mass called the Atlantic water. The sub-surface flow has a strong seasonality with a minimal volume transport in winter. This current transports internal energy into

875-464: The deep water formation in the Nordic Seas. Jones et al. note that there are three different freshwater sources for the EGC: Pacific water, river runoff, and sea-ice meltwater. They find that the biggest contributor to the freshening of the EGC is due to river runoff, followed by Pacific water, and a distant last is sea-ice meltwater (nearly negligible). They find that even though these sources freshen

910-406: The increase in overall sea ice extent. Essentially open water drifting decreases substantially during the winter months. The volume export ranges greatly from year to year. It can be as high as 5000 km /year and as low as 1000 km /year. Atmospheric forcings also have a strong impact on Arctic Sea Ice export through the EGC. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)/Arctic Oscillation (AO) has

945-501: The largest settlement is Ísafjörður , with a population of around 4,000. The box is for Göltur [ˈkɔl̥tʏr̥] , at the tip of the peninsula 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Ísafjörður. Westfjords is generally the coldest area at sea level in Iceland, as a result of the East Greenland Current . In 1615, 32 shipwrecked Basque whalers were killed by locals , after which the magistrate made it law that any Basque person seen in

980-614: The ocean and also as sea ice). Because the EGC runs through the Greenland Sea and eventually through the Labrador Sea (as the West Greenland Current) it can have strong implications for the strengthening and or weakening of deep water formation in the Greenland and Labrador Seas. The Meridional Overturning Circulation is a density driven circulation in which a small perturbation in the density field could easily slow down or speed up

1015-507: The recirculation of the EGC in the Greenland Sea via the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone helps lead to a freshening of the central Greenland Sea, however, Rudels et al. disproved this theory and said it must be due to solid sea ice melt and precipitation in the central Greenland Sea. Fram Strait The Fram Strait is the passage between Greenland and Svalbard , located roughly between 77°N and 81°N latitudes and centered on

1050-547: The region should be instantly killed. This law was repealed in May 2015. The Westfjords are famous for their large Arctic Fox population. The density of Arctic Fox in some parts of Hornstrandir nature reserve (such as Hornvik) is the highest in the world. In addition, Látrabjarg cliffs in the south-west of the peninsula are the most important seabird nesting site in Iceland, and one of the most important in Europe. The most common birds in

1085-609: The salinity is around 34.9 psu. The deep water masses (>1600 m) are recirculated within the Greenland Sea due to the Jan Mayen Fracture Zone . Here, the deep water encounters the Jan Mayen Ridge and are deflected eastward towards the interior of the Greenland Sea Gyre. The upper layers are able to pass into the waters north of Iceland unhindered. It is important to note that these recirculated deep water masses in

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1120-494: The salinity varies greatly from 30 psu (near the surface) to 34 psu at a 150-meter depth. The layer beneath the Polar Water is known as the Atlantic Water layer. It extends down to about 1000 m. This layer is defined as having relatively warm temperatures and saline waters. The temperatures are normally above 0 °C and have a salinity of 34 psu at 150 meters and it increases to about 35 psu at 1000 meters. The Atlantic water that

1155-420: The transport of water southward ranged from 2–32 sverdrups . That is quite a large variation that they attributed to the widely varying strength of the Atlantic Water flow at intermediate depths. More recent estimations of water transport in the top layers (<800 m) of the EGC is between 3 and 4 sverdrups. One of the most important aspects of the East Greenland Current is the amount of sea ice it exports into

1190-423: The west of the strait, next to the coast of Greenland . Approximately 90% of sea ice exported from the Arctic is transported by the East Greenland Current. (Sea ice essentially corresponds to fresh water, since its salt content of 4 per mil is much less than the 35 per mil for sea water.) A 2019 estimate states that about "80% of the water exchanged between the Arctic ice cap and the world’s oceans passes through

1225-408: The west. Fram Strait is the northernmost ocean area having ice-free conditions throughout the year. The width of the strait is about 450 km, but because of the wide continental shelves of Greenland and Spitsbergen, the deep portion of Fram Strait is only about 300 km wide. The ocean over the Greenland continental shelf is often covered with ice. Within Fram Strait, the sill connecting

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