Observations in the northwest corner of the North Atlantic Current

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. -from Author