Full steam ahead

With favourable weather conditions, we have now finished the section across Shag Rocks Passage and are now steaming south to occupy several stations further upstream. Early results from both the dye experiment and the direct measurements of microstructure suggest that there is enhanced mixing in the region, but that the patterns of mixing are not even across the passage. In order to understand more clearly the processes that are occurring, we will now occupy four stations upstream from the passage and also sample south to north across it. In addition to microstructure and CTD measurements, we will also release two profiling EM-APEX floats, which drift with the ocean currents and profile up and down the water column between the surface and 1500 m depth. These floats measure temperature, conductivity and pressure and also have a current meter that can measure small velocity perturbations. We have a busy few days ahead but hope to finish our work here by Monday before continuing towards South Georgia.