The mid-depth circulation of the Nordic Seas derived from profiling float observations

The trajectories of 61 profiling Argo floats deployed at mid-depth in the Nordic Seas-the Greenland, Lofoten and Norwegian Basins and the Iceland Plateau-between 2001 and 2009 are analysed to determine the pattern, strength and variability of the regional circulation. The mid-depth circulation is strongly coupled with the structure of the bottom topography of the four major basins and of the Nordic Seas as a whole. It is cyclonic, both on the large-scale and on the basin scale, with weak flow (< 1 cm s-1) in the interior of the basins and somewhat stronger flow (up to 5 cm s-1) at their rims. Only few floats moved from one basin to another, indicating that the internal recirculation within the basins is…