High resolution synoptic hydrographic surveys carried out during 1982
to 1987 are used to delineate the two-dimensional baroclinic flow patt
ern of the Red Sea. it is shown that the circulation can be characteri
zed through a succession Of four gyres, some 200 km in diameter, the l
ocations of which are linked to the major topographic basins of the Re
d Sea. The gyres have a transport almost an order of magnitude larger
than the large-scale thermohaline driven flow. They appear to be force
d by the strongly rotational wind field over the Red Sea.