186 



WATER MASSES AND CURRENTS OF THE OCEANS 



side, and the South Atlantic Current flowing east on the southern side. 

 It is a system of shallow currents, because the entire circulation takes 

 place above the Antarctic Intermediate Water, and near the Equator it is 

 probably limited to a depth of less than 200 m. 



From the data of the Meteor expedition, it is possible to arrive at 

 some quantitative conclusions. Calculations of the transport through 

 vertical sections between South Africa and South America (p. 116) lead 

 to the result that the transport above a depth of 4000 m is directed 

 toward the north, but this is obviously impossible, because the net 

 transport through such a section must be nearly zero. In calculating 

 the transport, it is therefore necessary to assume a layer of no motion 

 at some intermediate depth above which the transport will be directed 

 toward the north and below which it will be directed toward the south. 

 The Meteor profiles to the south of latitude 20°S lead consistently to the 

 result that the intermediate layer of no motion is found at a depth of 

 about 1300 m — that is, at the boundary between the Antarctic Inter- 

 mediate Water and the Deep Water. Thus, the intermediate water and 

 the upper water move, on the whole, to the north, whereas the deep water 

 moves south, but close to the bottom there is a flow of Antarctic Bottom 

 Water toward the north. The net transport to the south below 1300 m 

 amounts approximately to 15 million mVsec. 



Table 21 



TRANSPORT OF WATER ACROSS LATITUDE 30°S AND ACROSS 



THE EQUATOR 



The transport through a vertical section in the South Atlantic can be 

 studied in greater detail, and approximate values can be computed of 

 the amounts of the different types of water that are transported to the 



