Abstract:
A moored profiler record from the western tropical North Atlantic provides the
first continuous time series of temperature, salinity and velocity profiles in a thermohaline
staircase. Variations in the intensity of layering and the evolution of layer
properties are well documented during the 4.3 month record. Such staircases are
the result of strong salt fingering at the interfaces between the mixed layers, and
these data provide unique insights into the dynamics of salt fingers. In particular, a
striking linear correlation between the temperature and salinity of the layers may
be interpreted as resulting from vertical salt finger flux divergences. Data from
this record allow new interpretations of previous work on this topic by McDougall
(1991).
