A cyclonic mini‐eddy near the Blake Escarpment

Abstract

A small, cyclonic eddy was observed traveling eastward through three moorings of a four‐mooring array of current meters near the Blake Escarpment at 28°N. The eddy did not reach the bottom, which varied from 1200 to 5000m depth across the array, and was barely detectable at 900m. Maximum current speeds were some 40 cm/sec and the translation speed was 15‐20 cm/sec. Diameter of the strongest currents was about 15 km and total eddy diameter was 60‐80 km. The eddy appeared to be advected by the background flow. There is indirect evidence that it represents a late stage of spin‐down of a Gulf Stream ring.