Wintertime warming of an Arctic shelf in response to large-scale atmospheric circulation

Observations on the West Spitsbergen Shelf have shown that the dynamic response of the shelf to wind forcing has a profound effect on the heat content of the water. Hydrographic and atmospheric data have been analysed with respect to the relative importance of surface heat fluxes and advective processes on ocean temperature. During the Arctic winter of 2005/06 periods of sustained along-shelf winds generated upwelling and cross-shelf exchange causing extensive flooding of the coastal waters with warm Atlantic Water from the West Spitsbergen Current. The winter temperature of the West Spitsbergen Shelf reverted to that typical of fall, interrupting the normal cycle of sea ice formation in the region.