Perspectives on Watermass Transformation in the Lofoten Basin of the Nordic Seas; Integrating Mooring and Argo Measurements

Recent work to understand the Meridional Overturning Circulation has focused on the role of watermass transformation in high latitude marginal seas. Despite increased understanding, observations of the relevant processes are sparse, and there remain many unanswered questions. In the Nordic Seas, the Lofoten Basin has been increasingly recognized as a region of significant watermass transformation, owing to the large wintertime surface buoyancy loss. Climatologically, the Lofoten Basin accounts for approximately 1/3rd of the total surface buoyancy loss over the Nordic Seas despite only covering about 1/5th of the total area. Here we compare two years of high temporal resolution mooring data (2010-2012) with properties derived from Argo profiles (between 2001 and present) within the basin. We highlight the spatial and temporal variability of basin water properties (including mixed layer depths, springtime restratification, and upper ocean heat content budgets), and extrapolate the results of the mooring observations over longer periods.