TY - JOUR T1 - The mid-depth circulation of the northwestern tropical Atlantic observed by floats A1 - Lankhorst,Matthias A1 - Fratantoni,David A1 - Ollitrault,Michel A1 - Richardson,Philip A1 - Send,Uwe A1 - Zenk,Walter AD - Scripps Inst Oceanog, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA. AD - IFM GEOMAR, Leibniz Inst Meereswissensch, Kiel, Germany. AD - Woods Hole Oceanog Inst, Woods Hole, MA 02543 USA. AD - IFREMER, F-29280 Plouzane, France. UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/6815/ DO - 10.1016/j.dsr.2009.06.002 KW - Equatorial currents KW - North Atlantic Deep Water KW - Antarctic Intermediate Water KW - Tropical Atlantic KW - Floats N2 - A comprehensive analysis of velocity data from subsurface floats in the northwestern tropical Atlantic at two depth layers is presented: one representing the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW, pressure range 600-1050dbar), the other the upper North Atlantic Deep Water (uNADW, pressure range 1200-2050dbar). New data from three independent research programs are combined with previously available data to achieve blanket coverage in space for the AAIW layer, while coverage in the uNADW remains more intermittent. Results from the AAIW` mainly confirm previous studies on the mean flow, namely the equatorial zonal and the boundary currents, but clarify details on pathways, mostly by virtue of the spatial data coverage that sets float observations apart from e.g. shipborne or mooring observations. Mean transports in each of five zonal equatorial current bands is found to be between 2.7 and 4.5 Sv. Pathways carrying AAIW northward beyond the North Brazil Undercurrent are clearly visible in the mean velocity field, in particular a northward transport of 3.7Sv across 16 degrees N between the Antilles islands and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. New maps of Lagrangian eddy kinetic energy and integral time scales are presented to quantify mesoscale activity. For the uNADW, mean flow and mesoscale properties are discussed as data availability allows. Trajectories in the uNADW east of the Lesser Antilles reveal interactions between the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) and the basin interior, which can explain recent hydrographic observations of changes in composition of DWBC water along its southward flow. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Y1 - 2009/10 PB - Elsevier JF - Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers SN - 0967-0637 VL - 56 IS - 10 SP - 1615 EP - 1632 ID - 6815 ER -