Nares Strait

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https://maps.apple/p/x2EszLPWSSTs~~

blocked for sea ice passage

Between 1979 and 2019, Nares Strait was blocked for sea ice passage on average 161 d per season with a consistent decrease of 2.1 d yr−1 throughout this period (Vincent, 2019).

connects to (north)

Lincoln Sea

connects to (south)

Baffin Bay

drainage of Greenland Ice Sheet

One such glacier is Petermann Glacier (PG), draining about 4 % of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) (based on area of the drainage basin; Rignot and Kanagaratnam, 2006) into Hall Basin in Nares Strait (Fig. 1).

flux of freshwater

The annual flux of freshwater through Nares Strait, in liquid and solid form, heavily depends on the seasonal formation of ice arches (Kwok et al., 2010; Münchow, 2016; Rasmussen et al., 2010).

formation of ice arches

In Nares Strait their formation [ice arches] depends primarily on the sea ice thickness, local wind stresses, and atmospheric temperatures (Barber et al., 2001; Kwok et al., 2010; Samelson et al., 2006).

ice arch failure

In the winter of 2006/2007 both ice arches failed to form for the first time in recorded history, causing sea ice to remain mobile in Nares Strait year-round (Kwok et al., 2010; Vincent, 2019) (Fig. 2, Supplement Fig. S1).

icebergs

Icebergs and pack ice are present year-round [in Nares Strait]; in an extreme example during 1962–64, a 20 km (12 mi) by 10 km (6.2 mi) ice island drifted southward from the Lincoln Sea through the Nares and Davis Straits to the Labrador Sea.

impact of southern ice arch for fast ice

Additionally, the formation of the southern ice arch in Smith Sound is crucial for the annual opening of the North Water Polynya (NOW) (Fig. 1) and the formation of landfast sea ice in Nares Strait (Barber et al., 2001).

important conduit

Nares Strait, connecting the Lincoln Sea to the northern Baffin Bay, is an important conduit for sea ice, freshwater, and heat between the Arctic Ocean and the western North Atlantic.

inhibition of sea ice

Ice arching inhibits sea ice export from the Arctic Ocean and allows the formation of landfast ice in Nares Strait, consisting of a mixture of multi-year drift ice, originating from the Arctic Ocean, and locally formed first-year ice (Kwok, 2005; Kwok et al., 2010).

island

Ellesmere Island

Laurentia

Greenland is part of Laurentia. The island is separated from North America by the Nares Strait, but this is a Pleistocene erosional feature.

most northerly part

Robeson Channel

northern and southern ice arch

Historically, the formation of a northern and southern [ice] arch has been observed in Robeson Channel and Smith Sound, respectively (Fig. 1) (Vincent, 2019).

OpenStreetMap

https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=80&mlon=-70&zoom=11&layers=M

radar image from Envisat

random

Although the embryo town of Steilacoom and Fort Nesqually were our principal resorts the post was the center of civilization in those parts. It was visited by all who came into the country. There were no hotels at all, so that every house had to entertain, in the manner they were best able, whoever came. Thus we were brought into contact with all kinds of people, and became known to everyone in the country, although our acquaintance was necessarily large on this account. The travelers of whom we saw the most were prominent men and officials of the territory.

scholarly article

Holocene sea-ice dynamics in Petermann Fjord in relation to ice tongue stability and Nares Strait ice arch formation (tc.copernicus.org) The Petermann 2015 expedition to Petermann Fjord and adjacent Hall Basin recovered a transect of cores, extending from Nares Strait to underneath the 48 km long ice tongue of Petermann glacier, offering a unique opportunity to study ice–ocean–sea ice interactions at the interface of these realms. First results suggest that no ice tongue existed in Petermann Fjord for large parts of the Holocene, raising the question of the role of the ocean and the marine cryosphere in the collapse and re-establishment of the ice tongue. Here we use a multi-proxy approach (sea-ice-related biomarkers, total organic carbon and its carbon isotopic composition, and benthic and planktonic foraminiferal abundances) to explore Holocene sea ice dynamics at OD1507-03TC-41GC-03PC in outer Petermann Fjord. Our results are in line with a tight coupling of the marine and terrestrial cryosphere in this region and, in connection with other regional sea ice reconstructions, give insights into the Holocene evolution of ice arches and associated landfast ice in Nares Strait.

sea ice dynamics

In recent decades, however, changes in the ice arch configuration suggest a transition in Nares Strait sea ice dynamics.

strait in

straits

tags

water column

The water column in Nares Strait is characterized by cold and fresh Polar Water (PW) in the upper 50–100 m with warmer and more saline modified Atlantic Water (AW) below, separated by a strong halocline (Johnson et al., 2011; Münchow et al., 2014).

Wikidata

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q737190

Wikimedia

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Nares_Strait

Wikipedia

Nares Strait (Wikipedia) The Nares Strait (Danish: Nares Strædet; French: Détroit de Nares) is a waterway between Ellesmere Island and Greenland that connects the northern part of Baffin Bay in the Atlantic Ocean with the Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean. From south to north, the strait includes Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin and Robeson Channel. Nares Strait has a nearly permanent current from the north, powered by the Beaufort Gyre, making it harder to traverse for ships coming from the south.