During leg 1 of Meteor cruise 10 in March/April 1989 at 18°N, 30°W, the high spatial and temporal resolution of hydrographic CTD-stations indicated that the study site was in a hydrographically complex region in the transition zone between the Canary Current and the North Equatorial Current at the southern boundary of the subtropical gyre. Strong variability was found within the upper 120 m due to interleavings of warmer and saltier subtropical salinity maximum water with colder and less saline upper thermocline water. The interleavings caused unexpected nose-like temperature, salinity, nitrate and oxygen profiles yet not described in the literature. A second variability source was found in the Central Water area, because the study area was situated in the vicinity of the Central Water Boundary dividing North and South Atlantic Central Water. Hydrographic analysis of the study shows that interpretations of biological and chemical data can only be done in conjunction with high resolution CTD-profiling.

see also the second part at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.62022

Supplement to: Podewski, Sigrid; Saure, G; Eppley, Richard W; Koeve, Wolfgang; Peinert, Rolf; Zeitzschel, Bernt (1993): The nose: a characteristic inversion within the salinity maximum water in the tropical northeast Atlantic. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 40(1-2), 537-557