Abstract
Measuring and analysis techniques are described for two sets of measurements of tidal currents near the surface and near the bottom at Banc de la Chapelle, a location 165 m. deep above the edge of the West European Continental Shelf. Reliable results are obtained for the semi-diurnal currents, but the scatter of the data is too great for consistent results to be extracted for the small diurnal and quarter-diurnal tidal constituents. The major axes of the mean semidiurnal current ellipses are aligned at about 30°. This direction is normal to the line of greatest slope of the shelf edge and to the main alignment of the large sand waves on the bank, which accords with a theory of formation of the latter. Bottom currents are on the average about 69% of the surface currents in magnitude. There is also some evidence for a residual drift of about 0·2 knot towards the West. An analysis is made of the errors involved in estimating the drift of a ship from Radar sights on moored buoys.
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