Freshwater Outflow from Hudson Strait to the Labrador Sea

F. Straneo (WHOI), F. Saucier (UQAR), Y. Gratton (INRS), S. Dery (UNBC), M. Harvey (IML-DFO) and the MERICA PROGRAM (Canada) Hudson Strait funnels approximately 900 km3/yr of river discharge, plus a smaller Arctic Ocean fresh water input via Fury and Hecla Strait, into the Labrador Sea. As such it is a major contributor (~40 %) to the fresh water carried by the Labrador Current and, in general, the third largest contributor of freshwater to the North Atlantic. Through a joint U.S.-Canadian collaboration we have monitored the Hudson Strait outflow using moored arrays (2004-2007) and the entire strait (2008-2009). Results from the first three years show that the outflow is larger than expected and not directly correlated with the interannual river discharge due to the storage and release of freshwater from Hudson Bay. (See http://www.whoi.edu/science/PO/people/fstraneo/hudson/hudson.html for more details)

Publications

  • The outflow from Hudson Strait and its contribution to the Labrador Current. F.Straneo and F. Saucier, Deep Sea Res. I, 55, 926-946.
  • The Arctic-Sub Arctic Exchange through Hudson Strait. F.Straneo and F. Saucier, Arctic-Subarctic Ocean Fluxes: Defining the role of the Northern Seas in Climate: Eds. R. Dickson, J. Meincke, P. Rhines, Springer_Verlag, NY, pp740.
  • Observations of fresh, anticyclonic eddies in the Hudson Strait outflow. D. Sutherland, F. Straneo, S. Lentz, P. St. Laurent, 2010, J. Mar. Sys. submitted
  • Variability and trends in streamflow output into Hudson Bay. Dery, S.J., Mlynowski, T.J., Hernandez-Henriquez, M.A., F. Straneo, 2010, J. Mar. Sys. submitted
  • What is the fate of the river waters of Hudson Bay?  P. St. Laurent, F. Straneo, J.F. Dumais, D.G. Barber, 2010, J. Mar. Sys. Submitted