| Abstract: | Oceanographic data from the regional data bank, covering a period from 1911 through to 1990, in combination with the climatic
tangential wind stress data have been applied to determine the historical fields of summary currents in the north-western
tropical Atlantic; currents of the major circulation elements in the active layer have been specified. It has been confirmed
that a significant, in terms of climate, transport of surface and subsurface waters by the geostrophic component of the North
Brazil current (NBC) to the northern tropical Atlantic does not take place. North-west of 2oN and 45o W, the current turns eastward, thus contributing to the generation of the equatorial countercurrent. The transport of the
NBC within a 0–500 m layer near 1o N has been evaluated to be equivalent to 50 Sv, and the mean annual transport of the equatorial countercurrent to 30 Sv.
Translated by Vladimir A. Puchkin. |
