The
West Spitsbergen Current (WSC) is a warm, salty current that runs poleward just west of
Spitsbergen, (formerly called West Spitsbergen), in the Arctic Ocean. The WSC branches off the
Norwegian Atlantic Current in the
Norwegian Sea. The WSC is of importance because it drives warm and salty Atlantic Water into the interior Arctic. The warm and salty WSC flows north through the eastern side of
Fram Strait, while the
East Greenland Current (EGC) flows south through the western side of Fram Strait. The EGC is characterized by being very cold and low in salinity, but above all else it is a major exporter of Arctic
sea ice. Thus, the EGC combined with the warm WSC makes the Fram Strait the northernmost ocean area having ice-free conditions throughout the year in all of the global ocean.