Investigating freshwater export and intermediate water formation in Baffin Bay
What is the motivation?
WATERPRINTS investigates how Arctic freshwater and transformed ocean waters move through Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. These pathways influence mixing in the North Atlantic, the formation of deep waters and the ocean’s uptake of human-produced carbon—key processes for understanding climate and circulation in the Subpolar North Atlantic.
Why does it matter?
The Arctic plays a major role in shaping global ocean circulation and climate. Changes in its freshwater export can disrupt the currents that distribute heat and carbon around the planet. WATERPRINTS focuses on one of the main gateways west of Greenland—Baffin Bay and Davis Strait—to improve understanding of how Arctic waters reach the Atlantic. This knowledge will strengthen predictions of future circulation changes and their consequences for climate stability and carbon storage.
© Núria Casacuberta
Project Focus
WATERPRINTS examines the transport of Arctic freshwater and intermediate waters through Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, a key connection between the Arctic Ocean and the Subpolar North Atlantic. These exchanges affect ocean stratification, deep-water formation and climate-relevant carbon pathways. During the CASCADES expedition aboard the CCGS Amundsen, the project will document how waters are transformed and transported across the region to improve understanding of Arctic–Atlantic connectivity and its importance for the global ocean system.
How will it be done?
The project combines ship-based sampling with long-term ocean observations to study how Arctic waters are exported through Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. During the CASCADES expedition, seawater will be collected from the surface to the deep ocean to analyse chemical tracers that indicate water origin and transformation. The expedition will also retrieve and redeploy moored instruments that continuously record currents, temperature and salinity, linking present-day measurements with long-term ocean changes.
© Núria Casacuberta
What will be collected?
Seawater samples will be collected across Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, from the surface to the deep ocean. These samples will be analysed for chemical tracers, nutrients and stable isotopes to identify water origins and transformations. Moored instruments measuring currents, temperature and salinity will also be recovered.
Members and partners
- Principal Investigator:
- Núria Casacuberta Arola – Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Other participants:
- Christof Vockenhuber – Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Partners:
- Samuel Jaccard – Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Jean-Éric Tremblay – Department of Biology, University of Laval, Québec City, Canada
- Craig Lee – Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- Kumiko Azetsu Scott – Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Halifax, Canada
- Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland