Labrador Current: Difference between revisions

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The{{short '''Labrador Current''' is a colddescription|Cold current in the north [[Atlantic Ocean]] which flows from the [[Arctic Ocean]] southocean along the coastcoasts of [[Labrador]] and passes around, [[Newfoundland]], continuingand south along the east coast of [[Nova Scotia]]. It is a continuation of the [[West Greenland Current]] and the [[Baffin Island Current]].}}

[[File:LabradorCurrentus-coastguard.jpg|thumb|Map of Labrador Current]]

The '''Labrador Current''' is a cold [[Ocean current|current]] in the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] which flows from the [[Arctic Ocean]] south along the coast of [[Labrador]] and passes around [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], continuing south along the east coast of Canada near [[Nova Scotia]]. Near Nova Scotia, this cold water current meets the warm northward moving [[Gulf Stream]]. The combination of these two currents produces heavy [[fog]]s and has also created one of the richest fishing grounds in the world.

In spring and early summer, the Labrador Current transports [[iceberg]]s from the [[glacier]]s of [[Greenland]] southwards into the trans-Atlantic shipping lanes. The waters of the current have a cooling effect on the Canadian [[Atlantic Canada|Atlantic provinces]], and on the United States' upper northeast coast from [[Maine]] south to [[Massachusetts]]. South of [[Cape Cod]], Massachusetts, the Gulf Stream becomes the dominant ocean current.

It meets the warm [[Gulf Stream]] at the [[Grand Banks]] southeast of [[Newfoundland]] and again north of the [[Outer Banks]] of [[North Carolina]]. The combination of these two currents produces heavy fogs and also created one of the richest fishing grounds in the world.

==Iceberg transport==

In spring and early summer, this current transports [[iceberg]]s from the [[glacier]]s of [[Greenland]] southwards into the trans-Atlantic shipping lanes.

[[File:Labrador Current.jpg|thumb|Photo of [[whirlpool|eddies]] in the Labrador Current]]

The Labrador Current has a tendency to sometimes go farther south and/or east than normal. This can produce hazardous shipping conditions, because it can carry [[iceberg]]s into an area of the Atlantic where they are not usually found. The current has been known to transport icebergs as far south as [[Bermuda]] and as far east as the [[Azores]]. After the [[sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the ''Titanic'']] in 1912, the [[International Ice Patrol]] was set up to track icebergs, including those found in areas of the ocean where they are rarely located.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID%3D377 |title=Forefront of Evidence-Based Disaster Management |work=Suburban Emergency Management Project |access-date=2010-01-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007235536/http://www.semp.us/ |archive-date=2009-10-07 }} The "Meandering Labrador Current" paragraph</ref>

== Freshwater origins ==

The waters of the Labrador Current have a cooling effect on the [[Canada|Canadian]] Atlantic provinces and coastal [[New England]], but rarely have a significant effect on waters south of Cape Cod. This can most clearly be seen in the fact that the [[Tree-line|northern limit of tree growth]] can be as much as ''fifteen degrees'' further south than in [[Siberia]], [[Europe]] or western Canada.

The Labrador Current has an average annual velocity of 20 cm/s and is formed from very cold water that is around 1.5˚C from the Arctic through Baffin Island, Canada, and Western [[Greenland]]. These waters come together in the [[Labrador Sea]]. The Labrador Sea is affected by seasonality and will experience greater freshwater imports during the late spring and early summer with riverine runoff and glacial melt.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Gang |last2=Piper |first2=David J. W. |date=2015-01-01 |title=The influence of meltwater on the Labrador Current in Heinrich event 1 and the Younger Dryas |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379114004089 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=107 |pages=129–137 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.10.021 |bibcode=2015QSRv..107..129L |issn=0277-3791}}</ref>

The ocean circulation in the subpolar regions in the North Atlantic have seasonal variations due to the cold, freshwater Labrador Current and the warm, salty [[North Atlantic Current]], as well as with changing surface winds, heat flux, and ice melting and formation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Han |first1=Guoqi |last2=Lu |first2=Zhaoshi |last3=Wang |first3=Zeliang |last4=Helbig |first4=James |last5=Chen |first5=Nancy |last6=de Young |first6=Brad |date=2008-10-17 |title=Seasonal variability of the Labrador Current and shelf circulation off Newfoundland |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |language=en |volume=113 |issue=C10 |pages=C10013 |doi=10.1029/2007JC004376 |bibcode=2008JGRC..11310013H |issn=0148-0227|doi-access=free }}</ref> There are two parts that make up the Labrador Current. The first part is baroclinic, meaning that the density depends on temperature and pressure, and is buoyancy-driven due to the amount of freshwater that is imported from the North. The second part of the Labrador Current is deeper and is barotropic, meaning the density is only dependent on pressure, and reaches a depth of about 2500 meters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thorpe |first=Steve A. |title=Ocean Currents |publisher=Elsevier |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-08-096486-7 |edition=2nd}}</ref>

== External link==

*[http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/labrador.html Surface Currents in the Atlantic Ocean]

[[Baffin Bay]] and the [[Hudson Strait]] are the largest freshwater contributors to the Labrador Current.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mertz |first1=G. |last2=Narayanan |first2=S. |last3=Helbig |first3=J. |date=1993 |title=The freshwater transport of the labrador current |journal=Atmosphere-Ocean |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=281–295 |doi=10.1080/07055900.1993.9649472 |issn=0705-5900|doi-access=free |bibcode=1993AtO....31..281M }}</ref> The Hudson Strait is a narrow channel that is about 400 km long and is the opening to the Hudson Bay System, which is connected to the Labrador Sea, and contributes 50% of the freshwater transport of the Labrador Current. Hudson Bay is covered in ice in the winter and is ice-free in the summer. Hudson Bay has 42 rivers, contributing to the river runoff. The Labrador Current is made up of the Hudson Strait outflow, or the southeast flow, that meets with the [[Davis Strait]] and the [[West Greenland Current]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Straneo |first1=Fiammetta |last2=Saucier |first2=François |date=2008-08-01 |title=The outflow from Hudson Strait and its contribution to the Labrador Current |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063708000642 |journal=Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers |language=en |volume=55 |issue=8 |pages=926–946 |doi=10.1016/j.dsr.2008.03.012 |bibcode=2008DSRI...55..926S |hdl=1912/2424 |s2cid=129009304 |issn=0967-0637|hdl-access=free }}</ref> This current then flows south, down through Newfoundland and [[Flemish Cap]] and along the continental shelf break. Part of this current moves westward along the continental slope near Nova Scotia, eventually reaching north of the [[Gulf Stream]], this is called the ''Slope Water Current''. The southward flow joins in the subpolar circulation, forming the narrow, western subpolar gyre in the North Atlantic. The current interacts with the Gulf Stream and the [[North Atlantic Current]] forming the western boundary current that makes up this gyre.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Talley, Pickard, Emery, Swift |first=Lynne D., George L., William J., James H. |title=Descriptive Physical Oceanography: An Introduction |publisher=Elsevier |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7506-4552-2 |edition=6th}}</ref>

[[Category:Ocean currents]]

[[Category:Geography of Canada]]

[[Category:Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador]]

[[Category:Arctic Ocean]]

{{Labrador-geo-stub}}

==References==

[[fr:Courant du Labrador]]

{{reflist}}

[[id:Arus Labrador]]

[[pl:Prąd Labradorski]]

== External linklinks ==

[[sv:Labradorströmmen]]

* [http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/labrador.html Surface Currents in the Atlantic Ocean]

[[vi:Hải lưu Labrador]]

{{Ocean}}

[[Category:Currents of the Arctic Ocean]]

[[Category:Currents of the Atlantic Ocean]]

[[Category:Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador]]

[[Category:GeographyOceanography of Canada]]