Transport through Barrow Strait is one-quarter that of the flow through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. As water flows from the Arctic Ocean to Baffin Bay its characteristics are modified within the Archipelago. The halocline is warmer than in the Arctic Ocean due to heat flux from underlying Atlantic waters. In winter the surface water loses heat and gains salt from landfast ice cover. Both volume and heat transport vary seasonally. About 10% of the water mass transported is fresh water (relative to a base salinity of 34.8) and heat transport has a yearly mean of -2.4x1012W.