Arctic Bottom Water
From The Encyclopedia of Earth
Oceans and seas (main)
March 29, 2010, 12:00 am
November 2, 2011, 3:47 pm
In physical oceanography, Arctic Bottom Water (ABW) is a water mass type which fills the deep basins in the Arctic Sea at depths less than 3000 meters (m).
| This article is written at a definitional level only. Authors wishing to expand this entry are inivited to expand the present treatment, which additions will be peer reviewed prior to publication of any expansion. |
Its formation process involves the interplay of two sources, Greenland Sea Deep Water (GSDW) and water from the Arctic shelf regions. The salinities of ABW are generally close to 34.95 but highest in the Canada Basin. The potential temperature in most basins is between -0.8o C and -0.9o C, although the Lomonossov Ridge prevents ABW colder than -0.4o C from entering the Canada Basin. Its main impact in the overall ocean circulation is its contribution to the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) in the depth range between 1000 m and 4000 m.
Further Reading
- Physical Oceanography Index
- Matthias Tomczak and J. Stuart Godfrey. Regional Oceanography: An Introduction. Pergamon, 1994.
