THE SVERDRUP CIRCULATION FOR THE ATLANTIC ALONG 24-DEGREES-N

The 30 Sv transported by the Florida Current through the Straits of Florida off Miami could consist of a wind-driven contribution of 17 Sv along with a thermohaline component of 13 Sv. The latter might flow from the South Atlantic as upper layer compensation for a net lower layer cross-equatorial flow southward. The Sverdrup transport along 24-degrees-N in the interior North Atlantic east of 55-degrees-60-degrees-W is about 17 Sv, potentially matching the wind-driven component of the Florida Current. The circulation in the vicinity of 24-degrees-N and west of 55-degrees-60-degrees-W up to the Bahama Banks contains energetic, shorter spatial scale flows, where there is a similarity between the regional pattern of the Sverdrup transport contours and the scales and structure of the observed C-shaped pattern of dynamic height.