FY 1997
Long-term measurements of flow near the Aleutian Islands
Reed, R.K., and P.J. Stabeno
J. Mar. Res., 55(3), doi: 10.1357/0022240973224328, 565–575 (1997) |
In summer 1995, the Alaskan Stream at 173.5W was very intense; the peak geostrophic speed was ~125 cm s−1, and the computed volume transport above 1000 db, referred to 1000 db, was 9 × 106 m3 s−1. Flow north of the central Aleutians was shallow, convoluted, and weak (2-3 × 106 m3 s−1). A sequence of CTD casts across Amukta Pass, spaced irregularly in time during 1993-1996, showed a mean northward (southward) geostrophic transport of 1.0 (0.4) × 106 m3 s−1, for a net flow into the Bering Sea of 0.6 × 106 m3 s−1. The source of this flow was the Alaskan Stream except in 1995, when it was Bering Sea water. Results from two 13-month current moorings west and east of the pass were quite different. To the west, flow was weak and variable and appeared to have a barotropic component. To the east, flow was stronger and unidirectional eastward. |
