Transport and Bottom Boundary Layer Observations of the North Atlantic Deep Western Boundary Current at the Blake Outer Ridge.

• Main Author: Stahr, Frederick R.
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE APPLIED PHYSICS LAB
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; *OCEAN CURRENTS; *BOUNDARY LAYER; *CLIMATE; *NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; GLOBAL; CONTINENTAL SLOPES; HIGH LATITUDES; BOTTOM; BASINS(GEOGRAPHIC); DEEP OCEANS; GREENLAND; DWBC(NORTH ATLANTIC DEEP WESTERN BOUNDARY CURRENT); Greenland; Irminger Basin; Southern Ocean; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA358708; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA358708

The North Atlantic Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) couples the global atmospheric climate to the ocean interior, making it an important component of the global climate system. Formed primarily by high-latitude deep convection, this density-driven current flows south from the Irminger Basin near Greenland along the continental slope of the western Atlantic to the Southern Ocean, where it mixes with Circumpolar Deep Water and spreads throughout the global abyssal basins. The DWBC was first inferred by Wuest (1935) and Iselin (1936), analytically predicted by Stommel (1958), and directly observed by Swallow and Worthington (1961). Because of its role in the climate system, and our lack of knowledge about deep ocean currents, investigations of the DWBC continue in an effort to understand its full nature. Doctoral thesis. Sponsored in part by Grant OCE-9503892.