Unusual Baltic inflow activity in 2002-2003 and varying deep-water properties

Abstract

The unusual sequence of inflow events into the Baltic Sea thatoccurred in 2002 and 2003 includes the first ever important baroclinicinflow to be described (August 2002), the Major Baltic Inflow(January 2003), which gave rise to the highest oxygen levelsin the Gotland Deep since the 1930s, and the baroclinic inflow(August 2003) that elevated the Gotland Basin deep water salinityto values last observed in 1977, and caused the surface salinityto rise again. From these trend changes, salt residence timeswere estimated at about 20 years in the deep waters and 30 yearsabove the pycnocline. Ventilation of the remote Karlsö Deeptook until 2005, two years after the inflow event responsible,at a time when the Bornholm and Eastern Gotland Basins were alreadyreturning to stagnation.