11 
FIC 
M8 M7 M9 M10 
Fig. 3 Volume transports in 10 4 m 3 /s across the NORA (bottom) and MOYENS section (top). Outflow (northward) po 
sitive and inflow (southward) negative. The numbers at the right side of each box give the stability of the cur 
rent in percent. The broken boxes eastward of N8 give extrapolated volume transports between 5° 10’ E and 
5° 40’ E. Total transport rates for each section segment are given under the bottom line. 
The estimated total inflow between 2° 30’ W and 2° 45’ E (N1-N5) amounts only to 4xl0 5 m 3 /s 
(Fig. 3). The main contribution of about 2.6xl0 5 m 3 /s comes from the Fair Isle Current which is known to 
follow the 100 m isobath approximately (N1, N2). Turre 11 etal. [1990] estimated the Fair Isle inflow to 
be about 3xl0 5 m 3 /s - with great month to month variability, however. The strong eastward flow between 
N3 and N5 forms part of the northern edge of the topographically-guided Dooley Current. 
Statistics of the low-passed NORA data are summarized in Table 2. The directional variability of the 
flow is expressed as a stability factor (SF), i. e. the ratio between mean vector speed v and mean scalar speed 
v s in percent: SF = (v/v s ) * 100. SF = 100% corresponds to a constant current direction. The small stability 
factor confirms the great variability of the flow. Values greater than 50% can be observed only at N6 and N7 
where the topography of the Norwegian Trench stabilizes the direction of the flow. With a few exceptions 
in the upper 30 metres of the water column and at N7 at a depth of 256 m, the eddy kinetic energy k E , which 
parameterizes the energy of the (low-passed) current fluctuations, exceeds the mean kinetic energy kn/*. 
Vertically, the shear of the mean current direction is relatively small. Near the bottom of the Norwegian 
Trench, there is a southward and southeastward counter-current at N7 and N8 respectively (Fig. 2). 
2.2 The MOVENS section (September/October 1986) 
The line of MOVENS moorings crosses the northern opening of the Norwegian Trench. Here, the NCC 
outflow meets the North Atlantic Current which roughly follows the 200 m isobath. Both currents, now 
known as the Norwegian Current, continue northeastwards along the Norwegian coast (see Fig.l). At the 
eastern edge of the Norwegian Trench (M10), there is a northward outflow throughout the whole water 
l) k E = 0.5 (mV + v V), k M = 0.5 (ir + v 2 ). it and v are the east-west and north-south components of the velocity vector.