Ocean Science www.ocean-sci.net 1812-0784 1812-0792 5 4 2009 10.5194/os-5-487-2009 http://www.ocean-sci.net/5/487/2009/ http://www.ocean-sci.net/5/487/2009/os-5-487-2009.html http://www.ocean-sci.net/5/487/2009/os-5-487-2009.pdf 487 494 2009-11-03 Problems with estimation and interpretation of oceanic heat transport – conceptual remarks for the case of Fram Strait in the Arctic Ocean U. Schauer A. Beszczynska-Möller Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany While the concept of oceanic heat transport – or rather heat transport divergence – is well known, it is sometimes applied inaccurately. Often so-called "heat transports" are computed across a partial section which means that the volume flow through such a section is not zero. In this case the "heat transports" depend entirely on the choice of the temperature scale. The consequences of such arbitrariness are demonstrated with a simple calculation exercise for the passages to the Arctic Ocean. 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