Confirmation of a convoluted flow over the southeastern Bering sea shelf

Data from 16 CTD sections during spring 1979-1981 were used to derive mean geopotential topography and geostrophic flow (and its variability). Inshore of 100 m, there was a weak (similar to 1.5 cm s(-1)) but quite stable southeastward flow, with a horizontal extent of at least 60 km. Offshore of 100 m, an even wider northwestward flow of 4-6 cm s(-1) was present, with a suggestion of anticyclonic eddies in the region similar to 20% of the time. Inshore of 100 m, however, eddy activity was quite rare. The main features from the synoptic data are virtually identical to those in a recent study using spatially averaged climatological data. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.