Coherent Subinertial Variability along the Southeast Greenland Coast

The Southeast Greenland shelf region harbors various exchange flows that play an important role in the climate system, such as the Denmark Strait Overflow and fjord-shelf exchange. Most of the literature on these flows focuses on slow processes such as estuarine circulation and hydraulically-controlled flow over a sill. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence that the volume transport variability of these processes is dominated by subinertial oscillations (timescale of several days). In this study we use a high-resolution ocean model to explore and characterize subinertial variability along the Southeast Greenland coast. We study time series and spatial patterns of sea level anomalies along the shelf break, and time series of dense-water volume transport across several sections along the coast. Using a wavelet analysis of the time series and an evaluation of the time evolution of spatial anomaly patterns, we identify strong evidence for coastal-trapped wave modes at around 4 and 10 day frequencies, propagating along the coast. We discuss the importance of these results in the light of sparse observational data and their interpretation.