In this project the PI's will collect and interpret high-quality and high-resolution conductivity, temperature, depth, oxygen and nutrient data in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, along a line designated as P-17N by the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), and running generally parallel to the coast from San Francisco to the Shumagin Islands, with an intersecting leg into Sitka, Alaska. Specific science issues to be addressed include heat and fresh water divergences, exchange of properties between the Alaska Gyre and the Subtropical Gyre, spreading and ventilation rates of North Pacific Intermediate Water, and bottom boundary interactions as seen in silica distributions.
