Aspects of the circulation in the Rockall Trough

• Main Authors: A. L. New, D. Smythe-wright
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1999
• Subjects: Feni Ridge; Rockall Trough; Wyville Thomson Ridge; Wyville-Thomson Ridge; Labrador Sea; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.523.7044; http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/272/1/NEW_rtproofs.pdf

An investigation is made of the circulation and structure of the water masses in the Rockall Trough in spring, combining the results of a recent synoptic survey (May 1998) with those from a high-resolution ocean circulation model. In the near-surface layer, saline flows are carried northwards by a ‘‘Shelf Edge Current’ ’ around the eastern slopes, possibly with some branching in the northern Trough. Fresher waters from the west inflow between 52 and 538N and partially mix with these saline flows in the southern Trough, so that waters of intermediate salinity are also swept northwards. In the southern approaches to the Trough, Labrador Sea Water (LSW) also flows strongly in from the west between 52 and 538N, and while much of this turns south, a proportion penetrates north to join a cyclonic gyre in the Trough extending to 56.58N. The northwestern limb of this gyre is fed by, and mixes with, more saline waters which result from overflows across the Wyville–Thomson Ridge. Furthermore, salinity and CFC data suggest episodic inflow of LSW into the central Trough. The circulation of the North East Atlantic Deep Water in the Trough follows a cyclonic pattern similar to, and lying below, that of the LSW. The Wyville–Thomson Ridge overflows in the model extend to higher densities than in the survey, are topographically steered southwestward down the Feni Ridge system, and eventually join a deep cyclonic circulation in the North