Current regimes across the East Greenland Polar Front at 78°40′ north latitude during summer 1984

Abstract

Four weeks of concurrent temperature and current observations from three moorings across the East Greenland Polar Front, at approximately 78°40′N, showed pronounced differences between the current regimes on either side of the front. East of the front, vertical shear was minimal, mean flow was not statistically significant, and fluctuations showed evidence of wind influence. West of the front, vertical shear and southward mean flow were significant; however, observed fluctuations were not strongly influenced by local winds. The mean current and density structure of the front was similar to that of a two‐layer boundary current model with constant potential vorticity. Current fluctuations west of the front were in part related to mesoscale features generated farther north and subsequently advected downstream by the East Greenland Current or to eddylike features apparently generated through potential vorticity conservation. Local instabilities of the front most likely account for the remainder of the mesoscale variability seen in the records.