Spitzbergen Current - Horizontal Movement

Horizontal Movement

The WSC has a unique structure as it flows poleward off the western coast of Spitsbergen. It is easiest to discuss horizontal movements and vertical movements of the WSC, separately. The WSC begins its movement in the Norwegian Sea where it branches off the Norwegian Atlantic Current and arrives at Spitsbergen's western coast, where it is guided by the bathymetric profile of the ocean floor surrounding Svalbard. Specifically, it tends to follow along steep continental shelves. The current is quite narrow and strong, having a width of roughly 100 kilometers and a maximum speed of 35 cm/s. At about 80° North latitude the WSC splits into two different sections, the Svalbard branch and the Yermak Branch. The Svalbard Branch continues to follow the continental shelf northeastward, and eventually sinks to an intermediate depth and is cyclonically recirculated throughout the Arctic, eventually being pushed out through the East Greenland Current. The Yermak Branch moves northwesterly till about 81°N, and then it moves directly westward and eventually equatorward in the Return Atlantic Current. The Return Atlantic Current is directly east of the East Greenland Current. The high salinity and warm temperatures of the Return Atlantic Current compared to the cold temperatures and low salinities of the EGC contribute to the existence of the East Greenland Polar Front a result of the strong gradient in both salinity and temperature. There is a current that splits off from the Yermak Branch and flows towards the Northeast at a higher latitude. This current is not well understood in the literature, and thus more information is needed. It is believed this current loops back into the Svalbard Branch further along in its track eastward.