Description: 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.

Description: In the Neil Brown Instruments' MKIIIB-CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth profiler), the system's digital outputs for the three basic measurements of temperature, conductivity and pressure typically show some small amplitude deviations from smooth calibrations which should be corrected for to achieve high accuracies, as required, e.g. within the Hydrographic Program (WHP) of the current World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE). These deviations show up as (i) a strong nonlinearity or even discontinuity of several mK close to 0°C in temperature output leading to too high subzero temperatures; (ii) a jump of order 0.002 mS cm−1 in conductivity output when passing the half-range value 32.768 mS cm−1, which causes jumps in the relation of potential temperature and salinity; and (iii) errors in pressure measurements of up to 4 dbar due to mechanical hysteresis and both static and dynamic responses to temperature changes. The existence of these effects is demonstrated, and methods to reduce the associated errors are suggested.

Description: Highlights: • Unique data set of daily temperature and current measurements over almost 30 years. • Cooling of the thermocline in the 1980s and extensive warming in the 2000s. • Currents indicate northward displacement of N-Atlantic subtropical Gyre in 1990s. • Influence of NAO and ENSO on current regime even in 500 m water depth. Data from almost thirty years of time series observations from a deep-sea mooring Kiel276 (33°N, 22°W), which was operated in the northeast Atlantic Ocean between 1980 and 2009, are studied to reveal information on the long term changes in the upper thermocline. This includes daily records of temperature and currents at two depths (240 m and 500 m). Until 1988, our analysis shows decreasing temperature in the entire thermocline followed by a slight increase at both depths; from 2000 on, extensive warming began at the shallower depth (240 m) and eight years later at the deeper (500 m) level. A northward displacement of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre is indicated by both current measurements and calculated kinetic energy between 1991 and 1998 resulting in an altered current regime in terms of absolute velocity and current directions in the last ten years compared to the first twenty years. Coherences of the currents with large scale climatic patterns such as North Atlantic Oscillation and El Niño/ Southern Oscillation evidence the atmospheric impact even at 500 m water depth.

Description: 14.10.-16.10.2002

Description: 19.02.-21.02.2003

Description: In the western equatorial Pacific the low-salinity core of Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) is found at about 800 m depth between potential density levels σθ = 27.2 and 27.3. The pathways of AAIW and the degradation of its core are studied, from the Bismarck Sea to the Caroline Basins and into the zonal equatorial current system. Both historical and new observational data, and results from numerical circulation model runs are used. The observations include hydrographic stations from German and Japanese research vessels, and Eulerian and Lagrangian current measurements. The model is the JAMSTEC high-resolution numerical model based on the Modular Ocean Model (MOM 2). The general agreement between results from the observations and from the model enables us to diagnose properties and to provide new information on the AAIW. The analysis confirms the paramount influence of topography on the spreading of the AAIW tongue north of New Guinea. Two cores of AAIW are found in the eastern Bismarck Sea. One core originates from Vitiaz Strait and one from St. George’s Channel, probably arriving on a cyclonic pathway. They merge in the western Bismarck Sea without much change in their total salt content, and the uniform core then increases considerably in salt content when subjected to mixing in the Caroline Basins. Hydrographic and moored current observations as well as model results show a distinct annual signal in salinity and velocity in the AAIW core off New Guinea. It appears to be related to the monsoonal change that is typically found in the near-surface waters in the region. Lagrangian data are used to investigate the structure of the deep New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent, the related cross-equatorial flow and eddy-structure, and the embedment in the zonal equatorial current system. Results from 17 neutrally buoyant RAFOS floats, ballasted to drift in the AAIW core layer, are compared with a numerical tracking experiment. In the model 73 particles are released at five-day intervals from Station J (2.5°N, 142°E), simulating currents at a moored time series station north of New Guinea. Observed and model track patterns are fairly consistent in space and season. Floats cross the equator preferably north of Cenderawasih Bay, with a maximum range in eddy-motion in this region north of New Guinea. The northward route at 135°E is also reflected in a low-salinity tongue reaching up to 3°N. At that longitude the floats seem to ignore the zonally aligned equatorial undercurrents. Farther to the east (139 145°E), however, the float observations are consistent with low-latitude bands of intermediate currents.

Description: 12.07.-15.07.2005

Description: Observations from a four-year current meter mooring at 28°44′N, 13°28′W in the Lanzarote passage are used to describe the transport variability of the Eastern Boundary Current of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. Three different water masses are found in the passage: North Atlantic Central Water in the upper levels (roughly Full-size image (〈1 K)), Antarctic Intermediate Water (roughly Full-size image (〈1 K)) and Mediterranean Water in the layer above the bottom at Full-size image (〈1 K). The mean southward transport of NACW is Full-size image (〈1 K)Full-size image (〈1 K) which is the transport of the easternmost branch of the Canary Current. Fluctuations of NACW transport are large, ranging from Full-size image (〈1 K) southward to Full-size image (〈1 K) northward. Every autumn a consistent northward transport is observed, which may be related with the eastern boundary upwelling dynamics. The mean transports of AAIW and MW are Full-size image (〈1 K) northward and Full-size image (〈1 K) southward, respectively. Fluctuations of transport of AAIW and MW are large, from 1.0 to Full-size image (〈1 K) and from −0.32 to Full-size image (〈1 K), respectively. Thus, the mass transports for each water mass show a high standard deviation of comparable magnitude to the mean. This highlights the importance of the temporal variability of the currents in this passage. A remarkable feature of our observations is that the mean transports of NACW and AAIW during an El Niño event are significantly different.