ASSESSMENT OF GEORGES BANK RECIRCULATION FROM EULERIAN CURRENT OBSERVATIONS IN THE GREAT SOUTH CHANNEL

Twenty Vector Averaging Current Meters (VACMs) were deployed at variou s depths in the vicinity of the Great South Channel during several exp eriments conducted between 1976 and 1986 (average record length simila r to 5 months). Since little more than mean current vectors from some records has been reported previously, a basic description of the flow held is presented here. With at least one current record occurring in every month of the year, the hypothesis of increased subtidal flow aro und Georges Bank during the stratified season is supported. Anemometer data obtained at nearby NOAA environmental buoys and the Nantucket Li ghtship are used to estimate wind stress, the primary forcing in the w ell-mixed season. Empirical modes of current structure demonstrate the spatial structure and the seasonal variability of wind and density-dr iven dynamics in this region. When averaged over a few months, the nor thward transport through the Great South Channel (fall mean similar to 0.095 Sv) is small compared to the westward transport along the south ern flank of Georges Bank (fall mean similar to 0.421 Sv), but the sub tidal variability of the Great South Channel transport is highly energ etic, with a standard deviation (similar to 0.11 Sv) greater than the mean, indicating that large reversals in transport can occur over a fe w days. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.