Moored Current Measurements on Laurentian Fan

Locations of the LF mooring sites (triangles), and the LC and SPB sites (circles).
Locations of the LF mooring sites (triangles), and the LC and SPB sites (circles).

Moored instruments were deployed throughout the water column at the mouth of Laurentian Channel (site LC) between July 2003 and June 2004. Support was provided by the Panel on Energy Research and Development (PERD) and ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corporation.

Near-bottom instruments were deployed at two sites over the slope (LF-A, LF-B) between May 2006 and May 2007. Support was provided by NRCan's Canadian Climate Technology and Innovation Initiative.

Moored measurements were also made at sites LF-A and LF-B from May 2009 to May 2011, with near-bottom instruments at LF-A in 2009-2010 and instruments throughout the water column at LF-A in 2010-2011 and at LF-B in both years. Support was provided by PERD.

Moored current measurements were made earlier at two sites (SPB-1, -2) on the southern flank of St. Pierre Bank, as part of a DFO ocean climate study.

The approximate water depths and positions, period, and the BIO Consecutive Numbers for the moorings (for cross-referencing the datafiles in the ODI database), are given in the following table.
Site Water Depth (m) Latitude (N) Longitude (W) Period BIO C onsecutive Mooring Numbers
LC 400 44° 50' 56° 10.6' Jul 2003 to Jun 2004 1492, 1496
LF-A 1100 44° 45' 56° 0.5.5' May 2006 to May 2007
May 2009 to May 2011		 1593
1725, 1769
LF-B 2000 44° 32.6' 56° 03.5' May 2006 to May 2007
May 2009 to May 2011		 1594
1724, 1768
SPB-1 400 44° 52.6' 55° 50' Aug 1997 to Nov 2000 1262, 1278, 1321
SPB-2 700 44° 50.4' 56° 50' Jun 1996 to Nov 2000 1225, 1251, 1253, 1261, 1277, 1320
Current speeds measured at 25 m above the seafloor at the LF mooring sites in 2006-07.
Current speeds measured at 25 m above the seafloor at the LF mooring sites in 2006-07.
Distributions of Potential Temperature (θ) on the Laurentian Fan mooring line in May 2007.
Distributions of Potential Temperature (θ) on the Laurentian Fan mooring line in May 2007.
Distributions of Potential Salinity (S) on the Laurentian Fan mooring line in May 2007.
Distributions of Potential Salinity (S) on the Laurentian Fan mooring line in May 2007.

Final datasets from the project are are being made available through the Ocean Data Inventory (ODI) of OSD's Oceanographic Databases.

For further information, contact Dr. John Loder and Dr. Yuri Geshelin.