The question of current transport in the northern Greenland Sea 

 is of great importance. The warm, relatively high salinity water 

 carried north by the West Spitsbergen Current is the primary component 

 of the warm intermediate layer of the Arctic Ocean (the Atlantic 

 Water) , and the branches of this current which continue into the 

 Arctic Basin appear to be its largest inflow. Mosby (1962) estimates 

 the West Spitsbergen Current's contribution to the Arctic Ocean to 

 be about 1. 4x10 s mS/sec with the largest transports occurring in 

 winter (November-February) and the lowest transports occurring in 

 May. Kislyakov (1960) states that the mean transport of the West 

 Spitsbergen Current from 1954-1959 for a section along 74°30'N was 

 about 3xl0 6 m 3 /sec. According to him, the lowest annual transport 

 derived from these sections occurred in 1955 and was about 0.8x10 s 

 m 3 /sec, and the highest occurred in 1957 and was approximately 5x10 s 

 m 3 /sec. Mosby (1962) estimates that flow of bottom waters from 

 the Greenland Sea into the Arctic Basin is approximately 0.6 n 3 /sec. 

 Although some workers disagree (Zaitsev et al . 1961) , it is generally 

 accepted that the East Greenland Current represents the major outflow 

 of the Arctic Ocean. Mosby (1962) estimates that it removes 2x10 s 

 m 3 /sec, and Coachman (1962), in an examination of the literature, 

 found estimates for its volume transport which ranged from 2.5x10 to 

 6x10 s m 3 /sec. Most of the ice transported out of the Arctic Ocean 

 is carried south by the East Greenland Current. Lationov et al. 

 (1960) estimate that its ice transport is about 1800 km 3 /year, and 

 Timofeev (1958) estimates it to be approximately 3100 km 3 /year. 

 Kiilerich (1945) claims that the volume transport of the Return Atlantic 

 Current near 76°N is about 0.4x10 s n?/sec. 



As the wide ranges of some of the above estimates indicate, 

 knowledge of the volume transports of the currents in the northern 

 Greenland Sea is rudimentary. Direct current measurements as well 

 as oceanographic data for the winter months are rare. Dynamic 

 calculations form the basis of many of the estimates, and it is not 

 likely that such calculations are overly precise. The data are 

 often not at all synoptic, and it is difficult to envisage a motion- 

 less reference level because of the movement of the deeper waters 

 into the Arctic Basin. 



There is some disagreement in the literature concerning the names 

 and the salinity and temperature characteristics of the waters in 

 the Greenland Sea. However, Helland-Hansen and Hansen' s (1909) definition 

 of Atlantic Water as any water with salinities greater than 35 % , 

 and Jakhelln's (1936) definition of extreme Polar Water (Polar Water 

 in its origin) as a water type with a salinity of 34.07 %o and a 

 temperature of -1.85°C have found some acceptance. Helland-Hansen 

 and Nansen's (1909) definition of Norwegian Sea Bottom Water (salinity 

 close to 34.92 % and temperature 0° to -1.3°C) also generally has 

 been accepted. But if Metcalf's (1960) division of Greenland Sea 

 bottom waters into two masses formed in different localities is correct, 

 the name Norwegian Sea Bottom Water may give a mistaken impression 

 of the origin of some of the bottom waters in the Greenland Sea. 



