Surficial Stratification and Sound Velocity Field in the Sargasso Sea

摘要

Six shallow tows were sequentially made during CHAIN cruise 102 in the early spring of 1972 in the area east of Bermuda. Using a new towed data sampling system introduced by Katz and Nowak (1973), digital recordings were made simultaneously of pressure, temperature, conductivity and sound velocity in the upper 50 m of the ocean. XBT's were launched and surface salinity continuously sampled. The measurements cover a time of 74 hours and a distance of about 500 nautical miles (nm). In the XBT cross section are seen the first indications of the major delineating features of the tow data: a thermal front and a cold water ring of the Gulf Stream. The surface layer stratification and the sound velocity field is given by the tow data. Using a horizontal T-S and sound velocity-density relationship, four different kinds of water are defined. (Author Modified Abstract)