Structure and transports of the East Greenland Current at 75 degrees N from moored current meters

The East Greenland Current runs from 80 degrees N to 60 degrees N from the Fram Strait to the Denmark Strait via the Nordic Seas. It transports waters from the Arctic and the Nordic Seas into the Atlantic and also acts as a w estern-intensified southward return flow for waters recirculating within th e Greenland Sea Gyre, itself an area important for deep water formation. Da ta from current meters moored across the current at 75 degrees N in 1994-19 95 show a large seasonal variation in the current. The annual mean transpor t is 21 +/- 3 Sv (taking 9 degrees W as the eastern boundary), varying from 11 Sv in summer to 37 Sv in winter (errors approximately +/- 5 Sv). No sig nificant seasonal signal has been observed in the Fram or Denmark Straits, suggesting that the seasonal transport is confined within the Greenland Sea . Using temperature and velocity data, we split the flow at 75 degrees N in to two parts, a mainly wind-driven circulation (annual mean of order 19 Sv) , which is trapped within the Greenland Sea Gyre and exhibits a large seaso nal cycle, transporting, predominantly, the waters of the Greenland Sea, an d a steadier throughflow probably thermohaline-driven (of order 8 Sv in the annual mean), with very little seasonal variation. Data from previous year s, 1987-1994, indicate the interannual variability of the current is low. A ssuming a spatially coherent structure to the current, we extend the time s eries of the transport back to 1991, and suggest it may be possible to moni tor the total transport with one suitably placed mooring.