Transport of Bottom Waters in the Kane Gap

摘要

In April 2009, direct measurements of currents were performed for the first time in the Kane Gap (East Atlantic) using an acoustic current profiler (LADCP) combined with CTD-profiling. The measurements were carried out on the main sill of the Kane Gap (4552 m), whose location was determined from the ocean topography database [8] and echo sounding in the region (Fig. 1); the coordinates of the sill are 9°20' N, 19°51' W. The bottom flow in the passage was directed to the southeast from the Cabo Verde Basin to the Sierra Leone Basin (velocities were approximately 10 cm/s), while the transport was 0.16 Sv (1 Sv = 10~6 m~3/s), which is less than the transport of bottom waters through the Vema Fracture Zone (11° N), the source of bottom waters in the Northeast Atlantic.