Large‐scale oceanography in Fram Strait during the 1984 Marginal Ice Zone Experiment

The pattern of large‐scale circulation in Fram Strait during summer 1984 is inferred from hydrographic data and water mass analysis and direct current observations by use of surface and subsurface floats. The West Spitsbergen Current carrying warm and salty Atlantic water splits into several branches, two flowing northward into the Arctic Ocean and two turning westward, causing a recirculation across the main axis of Fram Strait. The individual flow paths are topographically controlled, suggesting a strong barotropic component of the circulation.