Contribution of surface flux and ocean heat transport convergence to the interannual variability of the Labrador Sea

Madan, Gaurav (2020) Contribution of surface flux and ocean heat transport convergence to the interannual variability of the Labrador Sea. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The heat content and convergence of the heat flux transport (CHFT) in the ocean region 65ᴼW-40ᴼW, 45ᴼN-65ᴼN is studied based on in-situ observations of ocean temperature and the reanalaysis of surface flux for the period from 1993 to 2018. This region includes the Labrador Sea, the area of North Atlantic Current and Newfoundland Basin. The CHFT is computed from the equations of the tendency of heat contents for the surface (0-150 m depth), intermediate (150-2000 m depth), and deep (below 2000 m) layers and the whole ocean column. The highest interannual variability of CHFT is observed in the regions of the Newfoundland Basin and North Atlantic Current. The CHFT in the first region is influenced by the influx of sea-ice from the Northern Labrador Sea. The interannual variability of the CHFT in the second region represents the year-to-year change in the contribution of the ocean transport to the heat budget by the extension of Gulf Stream in the Subpolar North Atlantic. The CHFT in the central, eastern, northwestern, and northeastern sub-regions of the Labrador Sea were found to be highly correlated (r>0.7). There is a very weak correlation between the CHFT in these regions and the CHFT in the Newfoundland Basin and North Atlantic Current.

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