I.M Belkin, S Levitus, J Antonov, S.-A Malmberg

Progress in Oceanography

Published date January 1, 1998

“Great Salinity Anomalies” in the North Atlantic

  • Revisits the “Great Salinity Anomaly” of the 1970s, and documents the newly identified “Great Salinity Anomaly” of the 1980s (hence termed GSA'80s), both propagated around the North Atlantic in a similar fashion
  • Identifies two major modes of the GSA origin, remote (generated by an enhanced Arctic Ocean freshwater export via either Fram Strait or the Canadian Archipelago) and local (resulting from severe winters in the Labrador Sea/Baffin Bay)
  • Results indicate both modes should be taken into account to model decadal variability of the coupled ocean–ice-atmosphere system in the North Atlantic/Arctic Basin