Observations in the Northwest Corner of the North Atlantic Current

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Abstract
The North Atlantic Current, a northern branch of the Gulf Stream, flows in a northerly direction to the east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and turns sharply to the right north of Flemish Cap in the “Northwest Corner.” The currents and water masses in and near this turn are described using data from Batfish, satellite-tracked drifters, CTDs, and current meters. Drifter trajectories and water mass properties indicate that the northward current toward the northwest corner is sometimes well defined, narrow, converging, and accelerating. At other times it is poorly defined, weaker, less coherent, and diverging. When it is well defined the current turns sharply eastward between 51° and 52°N but rather than continuing east it forms ∼100-km anticyclonic eddies, which persist for at least 1–2 months. Records from 16 current meters placed on four moorings across the current show the flow direction to be variable in time but nearly constant throughout the water column. Speed is also constant with depth... Abstract The North Atlantic Current, a northern branch of the Gulf Stream, flows in a northerly direction to the east of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and turns sharply to the right north of Flemish Cap in the “Northwest Corner.” The currents and water masses in and near this turn are described using data from Batfish, satellite-tracked drifters, CTDs, and current meters. Drifter trajectories and water mass properties indicate that the northward current toward the northwest corner is sometimes well defined, narrow, converging, and accelerating. At other times it is poorly defined, weaker, less coherent, and diverging. When it is well defined the current turns sharply eastward between 51° and 52°N but rather than continuing east it forms ∼100-km anticyclonic eddies, which persist for at least 1–2 months. Records from 16 current meters placed on four moorings across the current show the flow direction to be variable in time but nearly constant throughout the water column. Speed is also constant with depth...

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