Flow across the continental slope off northern Scotland

Abstract

Current observations at the southeastern edge of the Faroe-Shetland Channel, north of Scotland, have been used along with hydrographic measurements to investigate the transfer of ‘Atlantic’ water on to the continental shelf. Although currents are predominantly parallel to the bottom contours, the observations suggest that cross-slope currents of about 2 cm s⁻¹ can be generated at the shelf break by disturbances propagating along the channel from the southwest.