A NOTE ON OVERFLOW EDDIES

Satellite-tracked drifters drogued at 100 m depth show very intensive cyclonic eddies over the Demmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) along th e continental slope of East Greenland between the Denmark Strait and C ape Farewell. Their core of 20 km diameter is probably in near solid-b ody rotation; azimuthal speed increases with depth, which is consisten t with downward velocities in the core, and supports the conclusions o f Bruce (1995). At 100 m depth, velocities in the eddies reach 50 cm s (-1) south of the Denmark Strait and 15 cm s(-1) near Cape Farewell. M aximum speed in one of the eddies is found at the top of the DSOW, sig ma(theta) = 27.80. The eddies may play an important role in water mass conversion in the Irminger Sea. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science L td