PhD Project

We are studying a current in the North Atlantic which is a continuation of the warm and saline Gulf Stream. Observations in the ocean are still rare which makes a time series in remote places like the subpolar North Atlantic very valuable. Currents in the ocean are important for all of us as they impact the weather and climate. Imagine a current in the ocean as the wind in the atmosphere. It can have a stronger or weaker flow, be warmer or colder, it can stop and even reverse direction.

We use so-called ‘moorings’. They look like a necklace hanging upright in the water column with instruments attached to it, measuring temperature, salinity and velocity. With those observations we hope to get more insight into how the current is changing over time, and whether changes are an effect of climate variability or if they can be linked to climate change.

Field campaigns

• Expedition to the Irminger Sea 2020 PE473, RV Pelagia
  Responsibilities: CTD watch, mooring work
  Blog
• Expedition to the Labrador Sea 2018 MSM74, RV Maria S. Merian
  Responsibilities: salinometer measurements, CTD watch, mooring work
• Expedition to Northern Greenland 2018 PAMARCMIP, Station North/Villum Research Station
  Responsibilities: black carbon measurements on snow, snow pit work
  National Geographic Article, New York Times Article
• Expedition to the Labrador Sea 2016 MSM54, RV Maria S. Merian
  Responsibilities: CTD calibration, CTD watch, mooring work
• Expedition to Tropical Atlantic 2015 M119, RV Meteor
  Responsibilities: salinometer measurements, CTD watch, mooring work

Publications

• Fried, N., & Femke de Jong, M. (2022). The role of the Irminger Current in the Irminger Sea northward transport variability. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 127, e2021JC018188. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JC018188
• Li, F.; Lozier, M. S.; Bacon, S.; Bower, A. S.; Cunningham, S. A.; de Jong, M. F.; deYoung, B.; Fraser, N.; Fried, N.; Han, G.; Holliday, N. P.; Holte, J.; Houpert, L.; Inall, M. E.; Johns, W. E.; Jones, S.; Johnson, C.; Karstensen, J.; Le Bras, I. A.; Lherminier, P.; Lin, X.; Mercier, H.; Oltmanns, M.; Pacini, A.; Petit, T.; Pickart, R. S.; Rayner, D.; Straneo, F.; Thierry, V.; Visbeck, M.; Yashayaev, I.; Zhou, C. (2021). Subpolar North Atlantic western boundary density anomalies and the Meridional Overturning Circulation. Nature Comm. 12: 3002. https://hdl.handle.net/10.1038/s41467-021-23350-2
• de Jong, M.F.; de Steur, L.; Fried, N.; Bol, R.; Kritsotalakis, S. (2020). Year‐round measurements of the Irminger Current: Variability of a two‐core current system observed in 2014–2016. JGR: Oceans 125(10). https://doi.org/10.1029/2020jc016193

Recent Conferences

• OOI at AGU Fall Meeting 2021, OOI and OSNAP in the North Atlantic, Invited Talk
• BBOS Autumn Symposium 2021, Talk
• EGU General Assembly 2021, online, OS1.2 The North Atlantic: natural variability and global change, EGU21-4769, PICO presentation
• Ocean Sciences Meeting 2020, PC24A – Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation: An Ongoing Challenge, Poster
• BBOS Autumn Symposium 2019, Poster