Gulf Stream Ring Coalescence with the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras

Abstract

A cyclonic ring, which had separated from the Gulf Stream 7 months earlier and traveled 500 kilometers westward, collided with the stream in September 1977. Within 3 days the ring and stream joined to form a sharp S-shaped meander. Shipboard expendable temperature probes and four bottom-moored inverted echo sounders were used to obtain synoptic descriptions of the rejoining process.