The dense waters formed by wintertime convection in the Labrador Sea play a key role in setting the properties of the deep Atlantic Ocean. To understand how variability in their production might affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) variability, it is essential to determine pathways and associated timescales of their export. In this study, we analyze the trajectories of Argo floats and of Lagrangian particles launched at 53°N in the boundary current and traced backward in time in a high-resolution model, to identify and quantify the importance of upstream pathways. We find that 85% of the transport carried by the particles at 53°N originates from Cape Farewell, and it is split between a direct route that follows the boundary current and an indirect route involving boundary-interior exchanges. Although both routes contribute roughly equally to the maximum overturning, the indirect route governs its signal in denser layers. This indirect route has two branches: part of the convected water is exported rapidly on the Labrador side of the basin and part follows a longer route toward Greenland and is then carried with the boundary current. Export timescales of these two branches typically differ by 2.5 years. This study thus shows that boundary-interior exchanges are important for the pathways and the properties of water masses arriving at 53°N. It reveals a complex three-dimensional view of the convected water export, with implications for the arrival time of signals of variability therein at 53°N and thus for our understanding of the AMOC.@en

The pathways and watermass transformation of the North Icelandic Irminger Current (NIIC) in the Nordic Seas are investigated by tracing the NIIC watermass in two ocean circulation models: the Modular Ocean Model (MOM) and the Parallel Ocean Program (POP). The two simulations use identical atmospheric forcing and have a horizontal resolution of 0.1°. However, the models differ strongly in their representation of the sea-ice cover in the Nordic Seas and, possibly as a consequence, display a different hydrography. Results from observational studies point towards a fast overturning loop north of Iceland that connects the NIIC watermass to the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW). However, our Lagrangian analysis shows that only 0.2 Sv of the entering NIIC water exits as DSOW in the two models. In POP, the main transformation to dense water takes place along a short path north of Iceland. In MOM however, the contributing part of the NIIC to DSOW takes a long path through the Nordic Seas and reaches Denmark Strait as part of the East Greenland Current (EGC). A small contribution of the NIIC watermass to the Iceland Scotland Overflow Water (ISOW) is found in both MOM and POP (7.8%, respectively 2.1% of the NIIC watermass). In the model simulations studied, the part of the NIIC watermass that is not connected to the overflows takes many different pathways through the Nordic seas. Analysis of the depth distribution and the thermohaline changes of the particles indicates that the watermass transformation that takes place north of Iceland is crucial for diversifying the pathways of the NIIC water.@en