Repeated shipboard observation sections across the boundary flow off northeastern Brazil as well as acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and current-meter records from a moored boundary array deployed during 2000-04 near 11°S are analyzed here for both the northward warm water flow by the North Brazil Undercurrent (NBUC) above approximately 1100 m and the southward flow of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) underneath. At 5°S, the mean from nine sections yields an NBUC transport of 26.5 Ϯ 3.7 Sv (Sv ϵ 10 6 m 3 s Ϫ1) along the boundary; at 11°S the mean NBUC transport from five sections is 25.4 Ϯ 7.4 Sv, confirming that the NBUC is already well developed at 11°S. At both latitudes a persistent offshore southward recirculation between 200-and 1100-m depth reduces the net northward warm water flow through the 5°S section (west of 31.5°W) to 22.1 Ϯ 5.3 Sv and through the 11°S section to 21.7 Ϯ 4.1 Sv (west of 32.0°W). The 4-yr-long NBUC transport time series from 11°S yields a seasonal cycle of 2.5 Sv amplitude with its northward maximum in July. Interannual NBUC transport variations are small, varying only by Ϯ1.2 Sv during the four years, with no detectable trend. The southward flow of NADW within the deep western boundary current at 5°S is 25.5 Ϯ 8.3 Sv with an offshore northward recirculation, yielding a nine-section mean of 20.3 Ϯ 10.1 Sv west of 31.5°W. For Antarctic Bottom Water, a net northward flow of 4.4 Ϯ 3.0 Sv is determined at 5°S. For the 11°S section, the moored array data show a pronounced energy maximum at 60-70-day period in the NADW depth range, which was identified in related work as deep eddies translating southward along the boundary. Based on a kinematic eddy model fit to the first half of the moored time series, the mean NADW transfer by the deep eddies at 11°S was estimated to be about 17 Sv. Given the large interannual variability of the deep near-boundary transport time series, which ranged from 14 to 24 Sv, the 11°S mean was considered to be not distinguishable from the mean at 5°S.

We report results from a 1-year (September 1987 to September 1988) moored current meter array spanning the continental margin off French Guiana near 8 ø N in the western tropical Atlantic. Current profiles were recorded at three sites: at the shelf break, over the mid-continental slope, and at the base of the continental rise. Upper level mean currents showed a northwestward flowing North Brazil Current (NBC) and offshore retrofiection of this flow into the North Equatorial Countercurrent from late summer through about January. Generally weak upper level mean flows were observed during the spring (February-June). Persistent northwestward mean flow was observed at 900 m depth over the continental slope, indicating northward transport of Antarctic Intermediate Waters in a subsurface boundary flow at speeds of 10-15 cm s -1 . Deep currents over the continental rise showed a strong southeastward Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) extending from 2500 m to the bottom, with mean core speeds of nearly 30 cm s -1 at 4300 m depth. Transport estimates based on these data and a few geostrophic sections suggest a DWBC transport of 20-40 x 106 m z s -1 at this location. Low-frequency current fluctuations were dominated by a well-defined 40-to 60-day oscillation with peak-to-peak meridional velocity amplitudes of • 1 m s -1 during the fall. Analysis of historical coastal zone color scanner imagery suggests that these oscillations are related to quasi-periodic generation and subsequent westward movement of • 400 km diameter eddies from the NBC retroflection. These results contrast sharply with earlier indications of a quasi-permanent "Demerara Eddy" in this region, and suggest that this commonly observed feature is in fact a transient phenomenon associated with the time-dependent behavior of the NBC retrofiection.

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Observations from the WOCE PCM-1 moored current meter array east of Taiwan for the period September 1994 to May 1996 are used to derive estimates of the Kuroshio transport at the entrance to the East China Sea. Three different methods of calculating the Kuroshio transport are employed and compared. These methods include 1) a ''direct'' method that uses conventional interpolation of the measured currents and extrapolation to the surface and bottom to estimate the current structure, 2) a ''dynamic height'' method in which moored temperature measurements from moorings on opposite sides of the channel are used to estimate dynamic height differences across the current and spatially averaged baroclinic transport profiles, and 3) an ''adjusted geostrophic'' method in which all moored temperature measurements within the array are used to estimate a relative geostrophic velocity field that is referenced and adjusted by the available direct current measurements. The first two methods are largely independent and are shown to produce very similar transport results. The latter two methods are particularly useful in situations where direct current measurements may have marginal resolution for accurate transport estimates. These methods should be generally applicable in other settings and illustrate the benefits of including a dynamic height measuring capability as a backup for conventional direct transport calculations. The mean transport of the Kuroshio over the 20-month duration of the experiment ranges from 20.7 to 22.1 Sv (1 Sv ϵ 10 6 m 3 s Ϫ1) for the three methods, or within 1.3 Sv of each other. The overall mean transport for the Kuroshio is estimated to be 21.5 Sv with an uncertainty of 2.5 Sv. All methods show a similar range of variability of Ϯ10 Sv with dominant timescales of several months. Fluctuations in the transport are shown to have a robust vertical structure, with over 90% of the transport variance explained by a single vertical mode. The moored transports are used to determine the relationship between Kuroshio transport and sea-level difference between Taiwan and the southern Ryukyu Islands, allowing for long-term monitoring of the Kuroshio inflow to the East China Sea.

Abstract.Here we present first observations, from instrumentation installed on moorings and a float, of unexpectedly low ( < 2 µmol kg −1 ) oxygen environments in the open waters of the tropical North Atlantic, a region where oxygen concentration does normally not fall much below 40 µmol kg −1 . The low-oxygen zones are created at shallow depth, just below the mixed layer, in the euphotic zone of cyclonic eddies and anticyclonic-modewater eddies. Both types of eddies are prone to high surface productivity. Net respiration rates for the eddies are found to be 3 to 5 times higher when compared with surrounding waters. Oxygen is lowest in the centre of the eddies, in a depth range where the swirl velocity, defining the transition between eddy and surroundings, has its maximum. It is assumed that the strong velocity at the outer rim of the eddies hampers the transport of properties across the eddies boundary and as such isolates their cores. This is supported by a remarkably stable hydrographic structure of the eddies core over periods of several months. The eddies propagate westward, at about 4 to 5 km day −1 , from their generation region off the West African coast into the open ocean. High productivity and accompanying respiration, paired with sluggish exchange across the eddy boundary, create the "dead zone" inside the eddies, so far only reported for coastal areas or lakes. We observe a direct impact of the open ocean dead zones on the marine ecosystem as such that the diurnal vertical migration of zooplankton is suppressed inside the eddies.

The current system east of the Grand Banks was intensely observed by World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) array ACM-6 during 1993-95 with eight moorings, reaching about 500 km out from the shelf edge and covering the water column from about 400-m depth to the bottom. More recently, a reduced array by the Institut für Meerskunde (IfM) at Kiel, Germany, of four moorings was deployed during 1999-2001, focusing on the deep-water flow near the western continental slope. Both sets of moored time series, each about 22 months long, are combined here for a mean current boundary section, and both arrays are analyzed for the variability of currents and transports. A mean hydrographic section is derived from seven ship surveys and is used for geostrophic upper-layer extrapolation and isopycnal subdivision of the mean transports into deep-water classes. The offshore part of the combined section is dominated by the deep-reaching North Atlantic Current (NAC) with currents still at 10 cm s Ϫ1 near the bottom and a total northward transport of about 140 Sv (Sv ϵ 10 6 m 3 s Ϫ1 ), with the details depending on the method of surface extrapolation used. The mean flow along the western boundary was southward with the section-mean North Atlantic Deep Water outflow determined to be 12 Sv below the ϭ 27.74 kg m Ϫ3 isopycnal. However, east of the deep western boundary current (DWBC), the deep NAC carries a transport of 51 Sv northward below ϭ 27.74 kg m Ϫ3 , resulting in a large net northward flow in the western part of the basin. From watermass signatures it is concluded that the deep NAC is not a direct recirculation of DWBC water masses. Transport time series for the DWBC variability are derived for both arrays. The variance is concentrated in the period range from ϳ2 weeks to 2 months, but there are also variations at interannual and longer periods, with much of the DWBC variability being related to fluctuations and meandering of the NAC. A significant annual cycle is not recognizable in the combined current and transport time series of both arrays. The moored array results are compared with other evidence on deep outflow and recirculation, including recent models of different types and complexity.

The existence in the ocean of deep western boundary currents, which connect the high-latitude regions where deep water is formed with upwelling regions as part of the global ocean circulation, was postulated more than 40 years ago. These ocean currents have been found adjacent to the continental slopes of all ocean basins, and have core depths between 1,500 and 4,000 m. In the Atlantic Ocean, the deep western boundary current is estimated to carry (10-40) x 10(6) m3 s(-1) of water, transporting North Atlantic Deep Water--from the overflow regions between Greenland and Scotland and from the Labrador Sea--into the South Atlantic and the Antarctic circumpolar current. Here we present direct velocity and water mass observations obtained in the period 2000 to 2003, as well as results from a numerical ocean circulation model, showing that the Atlantic deep western boundary current breaks up at 8 degrees S. Southward of this latitude, the transport of North Atlantic Deep Water into the South Atlantic Ocean is accomplished by migrating eddies, rather than by a continuous flow. Our model simulation indicates that the deep western boundary current breaks up into eddies at the present intensity of meridional overturning circulation. For weaker overturning, continuation as a stable, laminar boundary flow seems possible.