Sound Velocity Structure of the Labrador Sea, Irminger Sea, and Baffin Bay during the NORLANT-72 Exercise
2006
Fenner, Don F. | Bucca, Paul J.
During July-September 1972, 439 oceanographic observations were taken as part of the NORLANT-72 Exercise. One-third of these observations, mostly expendable bathythermographs, were converted into sound velocity profiles using Wilson's equation and historical salinities. These data were adequate for temporal and spatial analysis in the central Labrador Sea and along tracks between this region and the Denmark Strait, Reykjanes Ridge, and the Carey Islands in northern Baffin Bay. Oceanographic data also were adequate to define meandering of the Subarctic Convergence in the central Labrador Sea throughout the three exercise phases. Sound velocity profiles throughout the exercise area were extremely complex and variable, particularly in the central Labrador Sea and just south of Davis Strait. At one station astride the Subarctic Convergence, the sound velocity at the deep sound channel (DSC) axis varied by 9.5 m/sec over less than 48 hours. In the intense transition zone south of Davis Strait, this parameter varied by 20.9 m/sec over a distance of 155 nm. The depth of the DSC axis was much less variable than the sound velocity at the axis in both regions. Temporal and spatial variability appear to be equally significant as controls over DSC structure throughout the exercise area.
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