Current measurements in the passages of the Lesser Antilles

Abstract

Direct‐current measurements during March and April 1970, in the four major passages through the Lesser Antilles show a westward transport of about 26 × 106 m3 sec−1. This transport is divided between the Grenada, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia passages with, respectively, 10, 10, and 6 × 106 m3 sec−1 flowing to the west. The transport through Dominica passage was less than 2 × 106 m3 sec−1 during these measurements. This flow pattern is consistent with the distribution of variables as shown by data from hydrographic stations to the east and west of each passage. On the basis of the temperature‐oxygen relationship, water that enters the Caribbean with a temperature between 16°–23°C comes from a broad band of water found east of the area.

On the world ocean circulation. Volume I, Some global features/North Atlantic circulation

“…The latter contribution is envisioned to be part of a globally linked replacement flow for NADW (Gordon, 1986;Schmitz, 1995), whereas the North Atlantic contribution to the Florida Current is primarily the wind-driven segment of the subtropical gyre, although composed of a significant component of 18° Water. Each of these contributions is characterized by a distinct niche (Tables 1-5 and 1-6) in property space (SR91, Stalcup and Metcalf, 1972). The general agreement (-1-2 Sv) between diverse authors in Tables 1-5 with estimates of 7-12° water transport by Hall and Bryden (1982), Roemmich and Wunsch (1985), and Leaman et.al.…”

“…Although many investigations of the western tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea (Figure 1-73) have shed light on the circulation there and on the exchange between the South and North Atlantic, it is an extremely complicated area (Bruce et aL., 1985;Cochrane, 1969;Cochrane et al, 1979;Flagg et al, 1986;Mazeika, 1973;Mazieka et al, 1980;Metcalf, 1968Metcalf, , 1976Metcalf and Stalcup, 1967;Model, 1950; Pilsbury, 1890; Richardson and Reverdin, 1987;Roemmich, 1981;Stalcup and Metcalf, 1972). However, the North Brazil Current System and lately the Caribbean passages have been studied extensively in recent years (Brown et al, 1992;da Silveira et al, 1994;Johns et al, 1990;Richardson, 1994;Richardson et al, 1994;Schott et al, 1995;SR9l;Wilson and Johns, 1996;Wilson et aL., 1994), so that a clearer picture is emerging.…”

“…Another Îeature (Tabìe I-LÛ) emphasized by Model (195û) was the broad distribution (see also Schmitz et ai., 1993) of net transport through many passages, not just the southern passages. Table 1-9lists mean transports for temperature layers, adapted from Wilson and Johns (1996) (Wilson and Johns, 1996) Passage c:7°C Haiti-Cuba only 1 month of lowered current meter data (Table I-II) acquired by Stalcup and Metcalf (1972).…”

The connectivity of eddy variability in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean

“…Transports for the three southern most passages (Grenada, St. Vincent, and St. Lucia) have been reported as 9, 10, and 6 Sv, respectively (25 Sv total) [Stalcup and Metcalf, 1972 All three of the model simulations described above are important to this study, although many of the results presented in the paper depend primarily upon simulation 1. Simulation 1 is more realistic because it is thermodynamic and has more accurate stratification than simulation 2.…”

Direct observations of velocity and transport in the passages between the Intra‐Americas Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, 1984–1996

“…They used data collected in 1970 by Stalcup and Metcalf [1972] to examine the flow between the islands of the Lesser Antilles and arrived at an estimate of the transport distribution based on the limited data available at that time. More recently, Wilson and Johns [1997] conducted a comprehensive study of the inflow to the eastern Caribbean during the Windward Islands Passages Program.…”