Observing the cycle of convection and restratification over the Gulf Stream system and the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean: preliminary results from the CLIMODE field campaign

J. Marshall, A. Anderson, W. Dewar, S. Doney, J. Edson, R. Ferrari, G. Forget, D. Fratantoni, M. Gregg, T. Joyce, K. Kelly, S. Lozier, R. Lumpkin, G. Maze, J. Paster, R. Samelson, K. Silverthorne, E. Skyllingstad, F. Straneo, L. Talley, L. Thomas, J. Toole and R. Weller

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

• • Submitted: May 2008

  • Accepted: Jan. 2009

  • Published: Sep. 2009

Access online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2706.1 or download the pdf at the bottom of this page.

Abstract:

A major oceanographic field experiment is described, designed to observe, quantify and understand the creation and dispersal of weakly stratified fluid known as ‘mode water’ in the region of the Gulf Stream. Formed in the wintertime by convection driven by the most intense air-sea fluxes observed anywhere over the globe, the role of mode waters in the general circulation of the subtropical gyre and its biogeochemical cycles is also addressed. The experiment is known as CLIMODE for CLIvar MOde Water Dynamic Experiment. Here we review the scientific objectives of the experiment and present some preliminary results.