Norwegian Current

The Norwegian Current (also known as the Norwegian Coastal Current) is a water current that flows northeasterly along the Atlantic coast of Norway at depths of between 50 and 100 metres through the Barents Sea Opening into the Barents Sea. It contrasts with the North Atlantic Current because it is colder and contains less salt, having most of its tributary water coming from the brackish Baltic Sea as well as the Norwegian fjords and rivers. It is, however, considerably warmer and saltier than the Arctic Sea. Winter temperatures in the Norwegian current are typically between 2 and 5 °C whereas the temperature of the Atlantic water exceeds 6 °C.

Norwegian coastal waters are dominated by two main water masses, the Norwegian Coastal Current and the North Atlantic Drift Water (Atlantic Water). As the Norwegian Coastal Current moves northward, North Atlantic Drift Water is mixed in, raising the salinity (see Salinity below).

The current is both wind-driven, “piling up” of water along the Norwegian coast by southwesterly winds (creating elevation and thus pressure differences), and also driven by its salinity distribution which in turn creates density gradients .

It is composed primarily of outflow from the Baltic Sea (50% of freshwater input), flowing through the Skagerrak strait into the North Sea (10% freshwater input) circulation, joining with a fraction of the North Atlantic Drift (an extension of the Gulf Stream). The North Sea forms the third largest input of brackish-fresh water preceded by the inputs of fjords and rivers of Norway (40% of freshwater input). The Skagerrak area receives about 2100 m³/s of freshwater inflow, 75% of which is Baltic outflow, 15% is North Sea outflow and 10% is runoff from Norway and Sweden It is sometimes considered to be a continuation of the Baltic Current and is a major source of freshwater for the Barents Sea and Arctic Sea. It is formed by the branch of Atlantic current that flows into the North Sea and circulates through the North Sea basin along the Norwegian Trench picking up fresh and brackish water. It is a surface current and flows along the top 50–100 m of the sea surface.

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