This project will use idealized experiments carried out with a regional, high-resolution coupled ocean-sea-ice computer model to determine the dynamics that govern the flow through the archipelago. The processes by and timescales on which this flow adjusts to change in atmospheric forcing will also be identified. There will be a particular focus on Nares Strait, one of the three major channels, a key exporter of multi-year ice from the Arctic, and the subject of a recent intensive observational campaign. The results will allow us to make more confident estimates of the total freshwater flux currently exported through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and better founded predictions of future change.

The inability of global climate models to represent the important dynamical processes that occur in the high-latitude ocean poses a serious problem for predictions of climate change. Determination of the underlying physical mechanisms and sensitivities is a crucial step towards understanding how these flows might be better represented.