The East Iceland Current (EIC) is a cold water

ocean current An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of sea water generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind, the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling, and temperature and salinity differences. Depth contours ...

that forms east of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

at 72°N, 11°W as a branch of the

East Greenland Current The East Greenland Current (EGC) is a cold, low- salinity current that extends from Fram Strait (~80N) to Cape Farewell (~60N). The current is located off the eastern coast of Greenland along the Greenland continental margin. The current cuts t ...

that merges with the

Irminger Current The Irminger Current is a north Atlantic ocean current setting westward off the southwest coast of Iceland. It is composed of relatively warm and saline waters from the eastern North Atlantic that are fed by the North Atlantic Drift. The Irminger ...

flowing southward until it meets the northeast part of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. It quickly rotates in a

counterclockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...

direction and flows eastward along the Iceland-Faeroe Ridge before turning north and flowing into the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

. The EIC flows at an average rate of 6 centimeters per second, with a maximum velocity of 10 centimeters per second occurring as the current turns eastward.

The Iceland-Faeroe Front

As the current moves south ward along the eastern edge of Iceland, the minimally dense EIC comes into contact with dense, northward moving

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

water. When they collide, their different densities prevent them from mixing, so they move eastward along the Iceland-Faeroe Ridge which connects both island masses. The Ridge further prevents mixing of the water masses due to it being within 500 meters of the surface at its lowest point, and producing the Iceland-Faeroe Front. A subsurface profile shows that the front is located almost directly on top of the ridge and does not move large distances. The ridge is quite jagged and irregular, causing the current have small extrusions that follow the

bathymetry Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water ...

of the sea floor into the Atlantic water. These extrusions are most pronounced within 100 meters of the surface but can be tracked down to 400 meters. Once the EIC begins to move northward, the front will stay at the western edge of it, assuring there is no mixing of the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

and Atlantic waters. The front may move eastward and westward, depending on the volume of water that the EIC contains at the time.

Sea Surface Ice

Ice formation in the EIC is highly dependent on the salinity of the water that flows into it. The water that flows southward is fresh and very cold (typically 1 °C - 3 °C), while northward flowing water from the Atlantic is warmer(4 °C - 11 °C) and saltier. Ice will only form at the top layers of the EIC if the salinity is at most 34.7 psu. This causes the water to not be very dense, and will freeze more readily. If the salinity is above 34.8 psu, the water will be too dense to freeze.

References

{{Reflist Currents of the Arctic Ocean Currents of the Atlantic Ocean