A complex system: The currents near the North American shelf break include the large, warm, salty Gulf Stream flowing north and east; warm core rings that bud off the Gulf Stream; the large, cold, relatively fresh shelf current flowing south and west from the Arctic; a narrow, fast, cold jet flowing right along the shelf break; and near-bottom flow across the continental shelf from the coast toward the shelf break. (Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
|
