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Science 16 September 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5742, pp. 1841 - 1844
DOI: 10.1126/science.1114777
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Reports

Influence of the Atlantic Subpolar Gyre on the Thermohaline Circulation

Hjálmar Hátún,1,2* Anne Britt Sandø,3,4 Helge Drange,3,4,5,6 Bogi Hansen,1 Heðinn Valdimarsson7

During the past decade, record-high salinities have been observed in the Atlantic Inflow to the Nordic Seas and the Arctic Ocean, which feeds the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC). This may counteract the observed long-term increase in freshwater supply to the area and tend to stabilize the North Atlantic THC. Here we show that the salinity of the Atlantic Inflow is tightly linked to the dynamics of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre circulation. Therefore, when assessing the future of the North Atlantic THC, it is essential that the dynamics of the subpolar gyre and its influence on the salinity are taken into account.

1 Faroese Fisheries Laboratory, Box 3051, FO-110, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
2 University of Washington, Box 357940, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
3 Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center, Thormøhlensgt. 47, N-5006 Bergen, Norway.
4 Bjerknes Center for Climate Research, Allégaten 55, 5007 Bergen, Norway.
5 Geophysical Institute University of Bergen, Allégaten 70, 5007 Bergen, Norway.
6 Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
7 Marine Research Institute, Skúlagata 4, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hjalmarh{at}ocean.washington.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Trajectory shifts in the Arctic and subarctic freshwater cycle..
B. J. Peterson, J. McClelland, R. Curry, R. M. Holmes, J. E. Walsh, and K. Aagaard (2006)
Science 313, 1061-1066
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)