Advective loss of overwintering Calanus finmarchicus from the Faroe-Shetland Channel

The flow of deep water from the Norwegian Sea to the North Atlantic via the Faroe-Shetland Channel is one of the critical bottlenecks in the meridional overturn circulation. It is also a flow that potentially carries with it a large number of the overwintering copepod, Calanus finmarchicus, a regionally important secondary producer.

Using a high resolution hydrodynamic model, MIKE 3 FM, we simulate the overflow of deep water and estimate the associated loss rate of C. finmarchicus as a function of the water depth strata within which they reside. We estimate a net advective loss from the Norwegian Sea population of 80 +/- 10 kt carbon bound in lipids of C finmarchicus biomass per year, a number that constitutes about 50% of the total overwintering population.

Estimates of water mass characteristics and particle tracking suggest that the fate of individuals transported in the overflowing water is to be entrained into warmer waters of the North Atlantic Basin, a habitat that appears to be unsuitable for successful overwintering. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.