Nature 295, 193 - 198 (21 January 1982); doi:10.1038/295193a0

A seasonal signal in ocean currents to abyssal depths

R. R. Dickson^*, W. J. Gould^†, P. A. Gurbutt^* & P. D. Killworth^‡

^*Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, Directorate of Fisheries Research, Fisheries Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
^†Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5UB, UK
^‡University of Cambridge, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Silver Street, Cambridge CB3 9EW, UK

Long-term (9–32 month) current meter records from the eastern North Atlantic (41°N–59°N) suggest that, remote from the influence of the Western Boundary Current, eddy kinetic energy (K _E) at all depths is principally a function of wind stress and stratification, generated during the winter and early spring, propagating to abyssal depths and decaying to a minimum in late summer. Although this seasonal variation in K _E has not previously been described from the midlatitude ocean, some theoretical basis for it is presented.

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