A note on overflow eddies

Satellite-tracked drifters drogued at 100 m depth show very intensive cyclonic eddies over the Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW) along the continental slope of East Greenland between the Denmark Strait and Cape Farewell. Their core of 20 km diameter is probably in near solid-body rotation; azimuthal speed increases with depth, which is consistent with downward velocities in the core, and supports the conclusions of Bruce (1995). At 100m depth, velocities in the eddies reach 50 cm s−1 south of the Denmark Strait and 15 cm s−1 near Cape Farewell. Maximum speed in one of the eddies is found at the top of the DSOW, σθ = 27.80. The eddies may play an important role in water mass conversion in the Irminger Sea.