Structure and Transport of Bottom Waters through the Chain Fracture Zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

A. N. Demidov, E. G. Morozov, and R. Yu. Tarakanov

During the 27th cruise of the research vessel Akademik Ioffe in 2009, the measurements in the area of the main saddle of the Chain fracture zone were carried out. They included the CTD-sounding and determination of current speeds by lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP). As a result, the structure of waters was determined and the transport of bottom waters was estimated as 0.11–0.17 Sv that is significantly less than the previous estimates. The variability of bottom potential temperature values as compared with the measurements carried out in 1991–1994 is registered. At the station situated on the main saddle, the potential temperature increased by 0.1C and at the station located behind the saddle, it decreased by 0.034C.