Estimates of the mean circulation in the deep (>2,000m) layer of the Eastern North Atlantic

• Published in: Progress in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Dickson, R. R., Gould, W. J., Müller, Thomas J., Maillard, C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 1985
• Subjects: Mid-Atlantic Ridge; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/38771/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/38771/1/Dickson.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/0079-6611(85)90008-4

A total of 131 current meter records of between 6 and 24 month duration are analysed to describe the deep flow field of the eastern North Atlantic from 19° to 54°N and from the Continental Slope to the Mid Atlantic Ridge. Mean flows are weak and may be statistically indeterminate in some records and locations, but appear to indicate cyclonic circulations around the Iberia and Porcupine abyssal plains with a generally southward flow along the Mid Atlantic ridge and a deep northward slope current (where measurements exist) along the eastern boundary. The deepest inflow to the north-eastern basin that has been identified to date takes place through the Discovery Gap of >4,700 m sill-depth at 37° 25′N 15° 45′W in the Azores-Portugal ridge. South of that ridge, observations are sparse and no systematic circulation is yet evident. These observations are discussed in relation to recent geostrophic estimates of the deep circulation.