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Accession Number:
ADA167753
Title:
The Western Boundary Undercurrent off the Bahamas,
Descriptive Note:
Corporate Author:
ROSENSTIEL SCHOOL OF MARINE AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE MIAMI FL
Report Date:
1986-02-01
Pagination or Media Count:
8.0
Abstract:
Two sections through the deep western boundary current east of the Bahamas taken in late 1980 and early 1981 are presented. Tritium from bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s is used to identify recently formed deep waters in the sections. High concentrations are found in the North Atlantic Deep Water. Low tritium values occur in the Labrador Sea Water found above the core of this deep water. This is consistent with the suggestion by Talley and McCartney that this water mass has not been ventilated at the temperatures observed in these sections since the mid-1950s. Tritium in the sections correlated with maxima in potential vorticity. The potential vorticity maxima may be associated with plume dynamics near the overflow regions or with the dynamics of the deep western boundary current. The sections are south of the section discussed by Jenkins and Rhines where high tritium concentrations were found along the topography on the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge between 3.5 and 4.5 km depth in late 1977. In the sections farther south a similar maximum is found, but it is at a 0.6 C warmer potential temperature and separated from the topography. The change in the temperature where the tritium maximum is found implies variations in the formation and spread of North Atlantic Deep Water on fairly short time scales.
Distribution Statement:
APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
