FY 1999

A recent full-depth survey of the Alaskan Stream

Reed, R.K., and P.J. Stabeno

J. Oceanogr., 55(1), 79–85, doi: 10.1023/A:1007813206897 (1999)

We examine results from a cruise in May 1997. CTD casts to near the bottom were made south of the Aleutian Islands, across Amchitka Pass, and north of the islands. We computed a westward geostrophic speed of 123 cm s⁻¹ at 173.5°W in the Alaskan Stream. The computed volume transport there, referred to the bottom, was 25 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹. On other similar sections, transports were 8-15 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹. Various complex variations in geopotential height along the Stream apparently altered the cross-stream gradients, and hence the transports. Rotational tendencies were also present. Northward inflow through Amchitka Pass was quite strong (6 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹). Data north of the islands supported the existence of a zero-velocity reference level of variable depth.