Recent changes in Arctic Ocean sea ice motion associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation

Examination of a new ice motion dataset of the Arctic Ocean over a recent eighteen year period (1978-1996) reveals: patterns of variability that can be linked directly to the North Atlantic Oscillation. The intensity of the Icelandic Low, one of its centers of action, modulates the sea level pressure distribution over a broad region of the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian and Barents Seas. Over the winters of 1988 through 1995, the Oscillation has remained in its positive phase contributing to coherent large-scale changes in the intensity and character of ice transport in the Arctic Ocean. The significant changes include: the weakening of the Beaufort Gyre; the increase in ice export through the Fram Strait; the increase in ice import from the Barents/Kara Seas; the enhanced eastward transport of sea ice from the Laptev Sea::the,weakening of the Transpolar Drift Stream; and, the reduction in ice extent in the Nordic Seas. All of these changes affect the regional and total sea ice mass balance of the Arctic Ocean.