Is it really correct to describe NADW as a current, rather than a water mass of a certain density from a certain source (in this case upwelled water that cools in the northern latitudes and sinks). It doesn't so much flow, like a current, as spread out, thus forming an effective barrier to genuine currents like the Gulf Stream...
As far as I've been able to gather, it's a current just like the
Gulf stream, only that it's going the other way and a couple of kilometers below the surface. There's an image of what I'm trying to describe at
http://www.snf.se/snf/hallbart/1999/hallbart599/golfstrom.htm (but the text is in Swedish). The NADW is the dark current, the Gulf stream and the
North Atlantic drift the light one. --
Pinkunicorn
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