MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. Russian scientists identified an earlier unknown current of more than 1,000 kilometers long in waters of the Barents and the Kara Seas, which transports eastbound big amounts of warm and salty water from the Atlantic Ocean into the Russian Arctic. The newly identified water stream was named the Keldysh current after the Russian scientific vessel, the Russian Science Foundation's press service said.
"The main surprise is that part of the Atlantic water, unlike it was believed earlier, does not sink into the depths north of Novaya Zemlya. It remains at the surface and forms an extended current that crosses the Kara Sea's north. We have managed to see a unified picture only after merging results of numerous expeditions over almost 30 years," the Russian Science Foundation's press service quoted MIPT's chief researcher Alexander Osadchiev as saying.
The scientist and his colleagues discovered the phenomenon while analyzing data collected over recent three decades off the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh Russian research vessel and other scientific vessels in the Barents and the Kara Seas. During those expeditions, scientists repeatedly reported areas with abnormally warm and salty surface water, while its origin remained unclear.
To find that water's source, the scientists merged data, obtained during 25 marine expeditions in the Russian Arctic between 1995 and 2024. While analyzing the data, they studied how water temperatures and salinity were changing at different depths in waters between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, in the St. Anna Trench, and at the Kara Sea's continental slope.
The calculations, carried out by the scientists, indicated the existence of a near-surface current some 50-100 meters thick, which transports warm Atlantic waters to the Barents and the Kara Seas. It emerges at approximately 77-78 degrees north latitude north of Novaya Zemlya and then moves along the archipelago's northern coast towards the northeast. After that, it turns passing north of the St. Anna Trench eastern slope and approaches the continental slope, moving on towards the Laptev Sea.
The scientists say that this current's length is about 1,000 kilometers, and it is 50-100 kilometers wide. Thus, the Keldysh current has a strong influence on the seasonal growth and thawing of sea ice, which is specifically true in the St. Anna Trench's northern part. Noteworthy, related anomalies are observed throughout the year, the scientists say. This needs to be taken into account in assessing changing conditions of the Russian Arctic ice cover, they said in conclusion.