Moored Current Measurements in Orphan Basin

Locations (red stars) of the 8 PERD mooring sites in Orphan Basin and 2 mooring sites in Flemish Pass
Locations (red stars) of the 8 PERD mooring sites in Orphan Basin and 2 mooring sites in Flemish Pass
Annual-mean velocities in 6 depth intervals from the moored measurements in Orphan Basin between May 2004 and May 2010.
Annual-mean velocities in 6 depth intervals from the moored measurements in Orphan Basin between May 2004 and May 2010.

Moored current measurements were made at 8 sites in Orphan Basin, during the period from June 2004 to May 2010. Seven of the sites have been on a line across the basin, and the 8th site was chosen to examine variability in the along-slope direction. Moorings with current meters distributed over the water column have been deployed at 4 of the sites. Moorings with only near-bottom, or near-bottom and mid-depth, instruments have been deployed at the other 4 sites.

The project has been funded by the Program on Energy Research and Development (PERD), with additional support provided by Exxon Mobil and partners for the 2005-07 moorings.

The approximate water depths and positions, period, and the BIO Consecutive Numbers (for cross-referencing the datafiles in the ODI database) for the moorings are given in the following table.
Site Water Depth (m) Latitude (N) Longitude (W) Period BIO Consecutive Mooring Numbers
OB-A 1525 48° 12' 47° 53' Jun 2004 to May 2005
May 2006 to May 2008		 1515
1594, 1641
OB-B 1925 48° 20' 47° 48' Jun 2004 to May 2008 1516, 1553, 1596, 1642
OB-C 2250 48° 33' 47° 39' Jun 2004 to May 2010 1517, 1552, 1599, 1644, 1677, 1718
OB-D 2500 48° 50' 48° 19' Jun 2004 to May 2009 1518, 1549, 1597, 1643, 1678
OB-E 2250 49° 18' 47° 27' Jun 2004 to May 2005 1519
OB-F 2725 49° 08' 46° 55' May 2005 to May 2010 1550, 1645*, 1679, 1719
OB-G 3000 49° 30' 46° 30' May 2005 to May 2008 1551, 1598, 1646
OB-H 3300 46° 00' 46° 00' May 2005 to May 2006 1554

* Mooring not recovered

Distributions of Potential Temperature (θ) across Orphan Basin and Orphan Knoll in May 2006.
Distributions of Potential Temperature (θ) across Orphan Basin and Orphan Knoll in May 2006.
Distributions of Salinity (S) across Orphan Basin and Orphan Knoll in May 2006.
Distributions of Salinity (S) across Orphan Basin and Orphan Knoll in May 2006.

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

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