Frontal Zones in the Norwegian, Greenland,Barents and Bering Seas

摘要

The Arctic Ocean and Subarctic seas are important components of the globalclimate system and are the most sensitive regions to climate change. Physicalprocesses occurring in these regions influence regional and global circulation, heatand mass transfer through water exchange with the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.One of the overall objectives of Arctic and Subarctic oceanographic research is togain a better understanding of the mesoscale physical and biological processes inthe seas. This review is based on the book "Physical Oceanography of FrontalZones in the Subarctic Seas" by A.G. Kostianoy, J.C.J. Nihoul and V.B. Rodionovpublished in Elsevier in October 2004. The book presents the systematization anddescription of accumulated knowledge on oceanic fronts in the Norwegian,Greenland, Barents, and Bering seas. The work was based on numerous observ-ational data, collected by the authors during special sea experiments directed tothe investigation of physical processes and phenomena in areas of the North PolarFrontal Zone (NPFZ) and in the northern part of the Bering Sea, on archive data ofthe USSR Hydrometeocenter and other research institutions, as well as on a wideRussian and Western literature. The book contains general information on theoceanic fronts in the Subarctic seas, brief history of their investigation, state of thecurrent knowledge, as well as detailed description of the thermohaline structure ofall frontal zones in the Norwegian, Greenland, Barents, and Bering seas and ofneighboring fronts of Arctic and coastal origins.