West greenland current

From Glossary of Meteorology



West Greenland Current

A current of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre flowing northward along the west coast of Greenland.

It is fed from the East Greenland Current and from the cyclonic circulation of the Labrador Sea and achieves a transport of over 30 Sv (30 × 106 m3 s-1). Some of its water turns westward at 64°N to join the Labrador Current; the remainder continues northward as a relatively warm current through Davis Strait and into Baffin Bay, where it can be seen as a temperature maximum of greater than 1°C at a depth of 500 m. This water eventually turns westward as well to feed the Baffin Current and through it the Labrador Current.


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