Entrainment of shelf water by the gulf stream northeast of Cape Hatteras

Abstract

Entrainment of relatively cold low-salinity water by the Gulf Stream and subsequent formation of a cold filament adjacent to the northern edge of the Gulf Stream were frequently observed during a series of combined ship and aircraft surveys conducted north-eastward of Cape Hatteras between October, 1968, and May, 1969. Particularly well-defined entrainment was observed during mid-May, 1969 when a band of surface water 10 to 15 km wide and 40 meters thick was observed to reach from the continental shelf to the northern edge of the Gulf Stream. Transport seaward from the outer shelf is of the magnitude 104 m3/sec. Failure to observe entrainment during some of the flights agrees with the discontinuous nature of the cold filament adjacent to the northern edge.