A description of gulf stream meanders off Onslow Bay

Abstract

Data from a month of continuous surface observations across the Gulf Stream show a periodic time variation in the position of the current. The region studied is off Onslow Bay, North Carolina, where the current is close to the edge of the continental shelf. The dominant periods of the position variations correspond to the periods of the offshore winds, but no physical connection is apparent. The amplitude of these dominant variations, or meanders, is 10 km. Lunar components, either monthly or diurnal, have amplitudes which are, at most, small in comparison with those of the principal meanders. Although the meanders off Onslow Bay may be analogous to the multiple currents found downstream, their periods eliminate them as incipient forms of the large-scale meanders. An average section of velocity and temperature during the month of observation is presented.