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Science 11 January 1974:
Vol. 183. no. 4120, pp. 71 - 72
DOI: 10.1126/science.183.4120.71
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Articles

Mesoscale Ocean Eddies in the North Pacific: Westward Propagation

Robert L. Bernstein 1

1 Scripps Institution of Oceanography. La Jolla, California 92037

A set of subsurface temperature measurements in the trade wind region northeast of Hawaii reveals large perturbations about the mean state, with zonal wavelengths of 480 kilometers. The perturbations are identified as mesoscale baroclinic eddies, and they appear to drift westward at a rate of 4.7 ± 2.0 centimeters per second. The large-scale (rang 1000 kilometers) baroclinic flow at a depth of 200 meters is 1.5 ± 0.7 centimeters per second, also toward the west, and comparable in magnitude with the eddy drift velocity; this finding suggests that the eddy drift is strongly influenced by the large-scale flow. Mesoscale eddies have been discovered in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. Their existence in the Pacific Ocean is now confirmed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
AAAS-Newcomb Cleveland Prize To Be Awarded for a Report Published in Science.
(1978)
Science 199, 1063
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)