Meridional Circulation in the Tropical North Atlantic

A transatlantic CTD/ADCP section nominally located at 11 deg N was carried out in March 1989. In this paper relative geostrophic velocities are computed from these data via the thermal wind balance, with reference level choices based primarily on water mass distributions. A brief overview of the mer...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Friedrichs, Marjorie A.
Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1993
Subjects:
Physical and Dynamic Oceanography
*GEOSTROPHIC CURRENTS
*NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
*NORTH ATLANTIC CURRENT
HEAT TRANSFER
COMPUTATIONS
OCEAN BASINS
OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA
WIND VELOCITY
HEAT FLUX
*MENDIONAL CIRCULATION
Western Basin
NADW
north atlantic current
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA268222
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA268222
Description
Summary:A transatlantic CTD/ADCP section nominally located at 11 deg N was carried out in March 1989. In this paper relative geostrophic velocities are computed from these data via the thermal wind balance, with reference level choices based primarily on water mass distributions. A brief overview of the meridional circulation of the upper waters resulting from these analysis techniques is presented. Schematic circulation patterns of the NADW and AABW are also presented. In both the western and eastern basins these waters are characterized by cyclonic recirculation gyres. A particularly notable result of the deep western basin analysis is the negligible net flow of middle NADW. Although the horizontal circulation patterns described in this study agree well with results from many previous studies, the meridional overturning cell and net heat flux are considerably lower, while the net freshwater flux is slightly higher than previous estimates. These discrepancies may be attributed to: (1) differences in methodologies, (2) the increased resolution of this section, and (3) temporal (including decadal, synoptic, and most importantly, seasonal) variability.

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