Fram Strait
Geographical location
The Fram Strait, named after the Norwegian expedition ship Fram, is a sea route between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. It runs between Spitsbergen and Northeast circular rings in the northeast of Greenland, and connects the wall Staffelsee in the north with the Greenland Sea in the south. The Fram Strait is about 500 km wide and up to 5,669 m deep ( Molloytief ).
The western Fram Strait, through which flows from north to south the East Greenland is covered by ice all year, while the eastern part - influenced by the influx of relatively warm Atlantic water with the West Spitsbergen Current - in summer is largely ice-free.
Particular importance is attached to the Fram Strait in climate development, as it provides a threshold depth of 2,200 m, the only deep- water connection between the Arctic with the rest of the oceans. Through this connection, the exchange of oxygen-rich water masses takes place.
Through the Fram Strait leave large amounts of Arctic sea ice - about 2300 km ³ plus 1900 km ³ of fresh water annually - the Arctic Ocean and part of the East Greenland Current. However, they are subject to large annual fluctuations.
Since 1982, the German research vessel Polarstern research in the summer in the Arctic and has installed automatic monitoring stations for a longer-term observation of the flow conditions in the Fram Strait.