Title: The Northern Barents Sea: Water Mass Distribution and Modification
Abstract: Tbe main water masses in tbe nortbern Barents Sea are surface waler, Arctic water, transformed Atlantic water, and cold bottom water.Using summer data from 1981 and 1982, lbe formation, distribution, modification and circulation of lbese water masses are discussed.Recent estimates sbow tbal about 2 Sv of Atlantic water enters lbe Barents Sea by tbe Nortb Cape Current, balanced by a simiJar outflow tbrougb tbe strail between Novaya Zemlya and Frans Josef Land.Passing tbrougb tbe Barents Sea, Atlantic-derived water is modified by interaction wilb olber water masses as weil as witb tbe atmospbere, and tbe end products are believed to be important contributors lo lbe bydrograpbic structure of the Arctic Ocean. IN1RODUCTIONTue main sources of deep waters wbicb fill the deep basins of tbe global oceans are lcnown to be located in polar regions.Here, water masses are transformed by processes that increase tbeir density, usually by cooling and/or increasing salinity.Because deep water formation govems global oceanic circulation, it is important to determine the actual locations and processes involved, as well as to determine their sensitivity to environmental changes.Tue Barents Sea is a key region for modification of water masses in the Arctic.lt is one of several continental shelf seas marginal to the Arctic Ocean which influence its bydrographic structure.Water flowing over shallow regions is transformed wben beat loss and brine rejection during sea ice formation increase density in winter, while warming and addition of sea-ice meltwater and river runoff decrease surface water density during summer [e.g.