WATER MASSES AND CURRENTS OF THE OCEANS 



173 



flow. The three regions where sinking takes place and the amounts of 

 water sinking from the surface are shown by circles and inserted numbers 

 that represent rounded-off values. About 2 million mVsec sink outside 

 the Strait of Gibraltar and about the same amount sinks in the Labrador 

 Sea. Both of these values are based on fairly accurate data, wherefore 

 it follows that a similar amount sinks in the third region within which 

 bottom and deep water is being renewed — namely, the region to the 

 southeast of southern Greenland. 



Fig. 43. Approximate directions of flow of the Intermediate Water Masses of the 

 North Atlantic. A.I.W.: Arctic Intermediate Water, M.W.: Mediterrenean Water, 

 A.A.I. W.: Antarctic Intermediate Water. 



The direction of flow of the different types of intermediate waters of 

 lower temperature does not always coincide with the direction of flow of 

 the upper water. On the basis of the character of the water and the 

 results of dynamic calculations, fig. 43 has been prepared giving a tenta- 

 tive picture of the spreading of the Arctic Intermediate Water, 

 the Mediterranean Water, and the Antarctic Intermediate Water. The 

 Arctic Intermediate Water is present in the northern region only. The 

 Mediterranean Water partly bends north before turning west and partly 

 spreads directly toward the west. Some of this water turns south and 

 continues across the Equator below the Antarctic Intermediate Water, as 

 indicated by the crossing of the lines of flow. The Antarctic Inter- 

 mediate Water enters the North Atlantic Ocean along the coast of South 

 America. One branch bends toward the east and south, returning across 

 the Equator, and two other branches continue, one into the Caribbean 

 Sea, and the other along the north side of the Antilles. Mixing takes 

 place between the different types of water, and the actual pattern of flow 

 or spreading out is therefore far more complicated than shown, 



