On the evolution of the thermocline and subthermocline eastward currents in the Equatorial Atlantic

Abstract

Eastward currents in the thermocline and subthermocline layers of the tropical Atlantic Ocean are described using observations obtained during two boreal summer cruises covering the whole equatorial basin. The analysis focuses on the eastward evolution of zonal currents in the thermocline and sub‐thermocline. The Equatorial Undercurrent is not found close to the African coast in boreal summer 2000, maybe because of interannual variability. As observed in the Pacific, the South and North Equatorial Undercurrents are shown to shift poleward from west to east, and the two cruises indicate that the North Equatorial Undercurrent does not enter the Gulf of Guinea. The South and North Intermediate Countercurrents are variable with longitude and, contrarily to the observations in the eastern equatorial Pacific, are not found in the east of the Guinea basin.