The Sverdrup circulation for the Atlantic along 24°N

Abstract

The 30 Sv transported by the Florida Current through the Straits of Florida off Miami could consist of a wind‐driven contribution of 17 Sv along with a thermohaline component of 13 Sv. The latter might flow from the South Atlantic as upper layer compensation for a net lower layer cross‐equatorial flow southward. The Sverdrup transport along 24°N in the interior North Atlantic east of 55°–60°W is about 17 Sv, potentially matching the wind‐driven component of the Florida Current. The circulation in the vicinity of 24°N and west of 55°–60°W up to the Bahama Banks contains energetic, shorter spatial scale flows, where there is a similarity between the regional pattern of the Sverdrup transport contours and the scales and structure of the observed C‐shaped pattern of dynamic height.