Oceanography of the Faroe Shelf and Sundalagið Norður

: A modeling approach

Abstract

This thesis presents a Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) model called FarCoast covering the Faroe shelf. The model contains triply nested (800 m →160 m → 32 m) grids covering the entire shelf. The 32 m grid domain covers the northern part of Sundalagið, which has been the particular focus of this PhD thesis. The emphasis of this PhD on Sundalagið Norður, is partly due to the existence of earlier and available observations, but also due to the location of a fish farm in this sound, operated by one of the sponsors of this project, with a particular interest in this sound. The 800 m model is validated in two separate papers concluding that the FarCoast800 m model is an excellent driver for the Faroe shelf high resolution model domains. The FarCoast32 m model is also validated in the second paper against observations in Sundalagið Norður. Furthermore, the model has shown that there is an important contribution of long-period tides, both for monthly and the fortnightly tides. The Faroe Islands are located in an amphidromic region. This has been demonstrated earlier for the M2 tide, but there are also amphidromes for S2, N2, K1 and O1. Furthermore, we have found evidence that Sundalagið Norður, behaves as a combination between a fjord and a strait, where the long-period tides determine the switch between the two states.

Date of Award	15 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
Sponsors	Research Council Faroe Islands, MOWI Faroes, Statoil & Bakkafrost
Supervisor	Eigil Kaas (Supervisor), Bogi Hansen (Supervisor) & Knud Simonsen (Supervisor)