Oceanic convection in the Odden area

In the Odden area of the Greenland Sea, a process called convection plays an important role in ice conditions. The cold Polar Water (PW) and the warmer and saltier upper Arctic Intermediate Water (uAIW) are the principal water masses involved. When sea ice is formed at the surface, brine is injected to the upper water layer, which causes the density to increase. The increasing density will eventually convect the upper water into the under laying water, causing warmer water to be brought up. This will decrease or even stop ice formation at the surface. If ice formation stops, the density of the upper layer is lowered again, and the convection will stop. Therefore ice formation can restart.
When convection takes place, current features are formed in the ocean. The channels in which the upper water is convected down are called plumes, while eddies are the consequence of rotating clusters of plumes. Plumes are expected to have dimensions of 100-1000 m, while eddies are in the range of 5-60 km.
For a further description of convection and related effects, see[Johannessen, 1994, p. 211-221].