Cruise summaries of Oceanus cruises 205, leg 8, and 216

A study of the upper ocean thermal and density structure in the northwestern Atlantic in 1989 compared temperature and density measurements made with Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth instruments with current data from an acoustic Doppler current profiler and satellite infrared imagery and altimetry. Two cruises were made in the spring and winter of 1989 with the goal of directly measuring the upper ocean currents and variabilty of the Gulf Stream. The XBT observations were used to extend the measured velocities geostrophically from the near-surface region to depths of 750 meters, thereby allowing transport estimates to be made for the upper ocean. In April the measurments were compared and used with the GEOSAT altimeter which, unfortunately, was not operating during the December cruise.Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. OCE-SS-1769S

Hydrographic data from R/V Endeavor cruise #143

Hydrographic data collected during R/V Endeavor cruise 143 is presented as a preliminary study of subduction in the northeast Atlantic south of the Azores Front. The front is clearly defined at the northern end of CTD section #1 which also shows a layer of 16-18°C water subducted to the south. Section #2, 280 km to the east, is dominated by a large cyclonic ring with characteristics similar to 'eastern' rings reported earlier . An anomalously salty parcel of Mediterranean water in this section is typical of highly saline lenses seen in the Canary Basin.Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation under grant Nos. OCE 85-15642 and OCE 85-18372

Cruise data report, R/V Atlantis II 93 Leg 7

The R/V ATLANTIS II Cruise 93 Leg 7 left Port Louis, Mauritius, 8 April 1976 on a 29 day geophysical and geological survey in the Mascarene and Somali Basins in the Western Indian Ocean. Table 1 lists the members of the scientific party. Seventeen piston cores were successfully recovered in the Mascarene Basin, Amirante Trench and Somali Basin regions. Table 2 summarizes these coring stations. Single channel continuous seismic profiles were made on 2920 km of ship's track in the Somali Basin. Echo soundings, total geomagnetic field and gravity field data were collected throughout the entire leg. The R/V ATLANTIS II arrived in Mombasa, Kenya, on 6 May 1976. For analysis of the data collected during this cruise see Bunce and Molnar (1977) and Johnson and Bunce (1977). We present here summary charts of the underway data collected during this cruise.Prepared for the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-74-C0262, NR083-004 and the Oceanographic Section, National Science Foundation, through Grant OCE-75-21522

Application of acoustic-doppler current profiler and expendable bathythermograph measurements to the study of the velocity structure and transport of the Gulf Stream

We have addressed the degree to which Acoustic-Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and expendable bathythermograph (XBT) data can provide quantitative measurements of the velocity structure and transport of the Gulf Stream. An algorithm has been used to generate salinity from temperature and depth using an historical Temperature/Salinity relation for the NW Atlantic . Results have been simulated using CTD data and comparing real and pseudo salinity files. Errors are typically less than 2 dynamic cm for the upper 800 rn out of a total signal of 80 cm (across the Gulf Stream). When combined with ADCP data for a near-surface reference velocity, transport errors in isopycnal layers are less than about 1 Sv (106 rn3 /s), as is the difference in total transport for the upper 800 rn between real and pseudo data . The method is capable of measuring the real variability of the Gulf Stream, and when combined with altimeter data, can provide estimates of the geoid slope with oceanic errors of a few parts in 108 over horizontal scales of 500 krn .Funding was provided by the Ocean Processes Branch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under grant Number NAGW 1026

Hydrographic data from warm core ring 82-B

Hydrographic data are presented from three cruises to Warm Core Ring 82-B during April-August 1982. These data include a sampling of the 2 db pressure, temperature, salinity and oxygen measurements obtained with a CTD-02 profiler, manufactured by Neil Brown Instrument Systems, together with water sample measurements of salinity, oxygen, silica, nitrate and phosphate. Charts showing the station positions and selected profiles of the various parameters are presented. Bi-monthly cruises aboard the R/V Endeavor show only slight changes in the ring between April and June. Interactions between the ring and the Gulf Stream before the August cruise however, reduced the volume of the central core of the ring by about 90 percent.Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation under grant Number OCE 80-16983

Warm core ring cruise #1 : R/V Endeavor cruise no. 74

At 1300 hours on 12 September 1981 the research vessel ENDEAVOR departed Woods Hole on a 22 day cruise to study the physical, chemical and biological structure of warm core ring 81-D. The cruise was the first of 5 ENDEAVOR cruises planned as part of the NSF/NASA-sponsored Warm Core Ring study.Prepared for the National Science Foundation OCE under Grant OCE 80-16983