North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre: SOFAR Floats Tracked by Moored Listening Stations

In 1980, SOFAR (sound fixing and ranging) floats were tracked acoustically in the western North Atlantic entirely by means of moored autonomous listening stations. During a 5-month period 17 float trajectories were obtained in the eastern (45° to 65°W) Gulf Stream and subtropical gyre interior at de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Richardson, P. L., Price, J. F., Owens, W. B., Schmitz, W. J., Rossby, H. T., Bradley, A. M., Valdes, J. R., Webb, D. C.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1981
Subjects:
Newfoundland
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.213.4506.435
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.213.4506.435
Description
Summary:In 1980, SOFAR (sound fixing and ranging) floats were tracked acoustically in the western North Atlantic entirely by means of moored autonomous listening stations. During a 5-month period 17 float trajectories were obtained in the eastern (45° to 65°W) Gulf Stream and subtropical gyre interior at depths of 700 and 2000 meters. These mid-depth trajectories suggest a time-varying Gulf Stream with instances of both a narrow, swift, westward recirculation south of the stream and a northeastward penetration into the Newfoundland Basin. A hundredfold increase of eddy kinetic energy was observed at 2000 meters from the gyre interior (south of 30°N) to the Gulf Stream.

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