On the ice and heat balance in Fram Strait

The sea ice margin northwest of Spitsbergen is schematically represented by a stationary wedge maintained by opposing ice and warm Atlantic water advection. Ice melt and cooling of the surface water generate a mixed layer with properties approximating those found elsewhere in the Arctic basin. The heat energy required to melt the advancing ice is roughly comparable to the rate of heat loss of the West Spitsbergen Current and suggests that direct heat exchange with the atmosphere is less important. Only a small fraction of the nearly fresh water from ice melt exits through eastern Fram Strait, and most of it appears to return to the Arctic basin. Whether or not it contributes to the formation and maintenance of the Arctic mixed layer depends on the largely unknown circulation pattern north of Fram Strait. An example of the large interannual variation of the mean wind stress field is shown to illustrate the likelihood of an equally large variance of the ice and surface water circulation.