Atlantic Ocean by three inter-connected currents: the Gulf Stream which flows north-east from the North American coast at Cape Hatteras; the North Atlantic Current, a branch of the Gulf Stream which flows northward from the Grand Banks; and the Subpolar Front, an extension of the North Atlantic Current, a wide, vaguely defined region separating the subtropical gyre from the subpolar gyre. This system of currents transport warm water into the North Atlantic, without which temperatures in the North Atlantic and Europe would plunge dramatically. North of the North Atlantic Gyre, the cyclonic North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre plays a key role in climate
North Atlantic Deep Water through the Norwegian Current which splits into the Fram Strait and Barents Sea Branch. Water from the Fram Strait recirculates, reaching a density of DSOW, sinks, and flows towards the Denmark Strait. Water flowing into the Barent Sea feeds ISOW. ISOW enters the eastern North Atlantic over the Iceland-Scotland Ridge through the Faeroe Bank Channel at a depth of 850 m, with some water flowing over the shallower Iceland-Faeroe Rise. ISOW has a low CFC concentrations and it has been estimated from these concentrations that ISOW resides behind the ridge for 45 years. As the water flows southward at the