Recent Observations of the Mean Circulation on Georges Bank

Abstract

A clockwise circulation around Georges Bank was measured by means of moored current meters, aircraft-tracked surface drifters, and satellite-tracked drifters drogued at 10 m. The strongest flow was in a narrow jetlike current (30 cm s−1) along the northern flank of the bank. The flow of shelf water on the southern flank was westward (10 cm s−1) toward the Middle Atlantic Bight; some of this water flowed northward through the eastern side of Great South Channel and recirculated around Georges Bank. The satellite-tracked drifters and the moored observations indicate that the circulation around the bank was not completely closed and considerable variability occurs in the trajectory of an individual water particle.