The Fugløya–Bear Island Section covers the inflow of Atlantic and Coastal water masses from the Norwegian Sea to the Barents Sea, while the Kola Section covers the same waters in the southern Barents Sea. Note a difference in the calculation of the temperatures in these sections; in the Fugløya–Bear Island Section the temperature is averaged over the 50–200 m depth layer while in the Kola Section the temperature is averaged from 0 to 200 m depth.
In 2018, the temperature of Atlantic Water flowing into the Barents Sea through the Fugløya–Bear Island Section (50–200 m) started out 0.25°C above the long-term average in the beginning of the year, but decreased through the year and ended up at -0.03oC in the fall (Fig. 3.1.7). On average, the 2018 temperature was 0.5oC lower than that in 2017 (Fig. 3.1.7).
Figure 3.1.7. Temperature anomalies in the 50–200 m layer in the Fugløya–Bear Island Section.
Temperature of coastal and Atlantic waters in the Kola Section in 2018 was typical of warm and anomalously warm years. During the observation period of 2018, positive temperature anomalies in the 0–200 m layer in the coastal waters and Atlantic waters of the central part of the section (Murman Current) were smoothly decreasing from 1.2°C in January to 0.8°C in June in the coastal waters and to 1.0°C in August in the Atlantic waters (Fig. 3.1.8). Whereas positive temperature anomalies of Atlantic waters in the outer part of the section (Central branch of the North Cape Current) first dropped from 1.4°C in February to 0.5°C in May and then abruptly increased up to 1.3°C in August, having reached a record high value for this month since 1951. Compared to 2017 (Karsakov et al., 2018b), the coastal waters and Atlantic waters of the central part of the section were 0.1–0.4°C colder in January–May and 0.1–0.2°C warmer in summer. The Atlantic waters in the outer part of the section were 0.1–0.8°C colder compared to 2017 in March–June, especially in April–May (by 0.6–0.8°C), and in other months, they were warmer (by 0.2°C in January, February and July, and by 0.6°C in August).
Throughout the observation period in 2018, salinity of coastal waters in the inner part of the Kola Section and Atlantic waters in the central part (Murman Current) was respectively 0.2 and 0.1 lower than average (Fig. 3.1.8). Whereas salinity of Atlantic waters in the outer part of the section (Central branch of the North Cape Current) was close to average from January to August 2018.
Figure 3.1.8. Monthly mean temperature (left) and salinity (right) anomalies in the 0–200 m layer in the Kola Section in 2017 and 2018. St. 1–3 – Coastal waters, St. 3–7 – Murmansk Current, St. 8–10 – Central branch of the North Cape Current.
In the northern Barents Sea (NW) the temperature increased in 2018 compared with the preceding year, with the temperature anomaly increasing from -0.18°C in 2017 to 0.30°C in 2018. In the northeastern Barents Sea, the temperature decreased, with a temperature anomaly of 0.19°C in 2018 compared with 0.74°C in 2017.
