Occurrence and characteristics of mesoscale eddies in the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean

Most eddies are generated preferentially in boreal summer and along the West African coast at three distinct coastal headland regions and carry South Atlantic Central Water supplied by the northward flow within the Mauretanian coastal current system.

Westward eddy propagation (on average about 3.00 ± 2.15 km d−1) is confined to distinct zonal corridors with a small meridional deflection dependent on the eddy type (anticyclones – equatorward, cyclones – poleward, ACMEs – no deflection). Heat and salt fluxes out of the coastal region and across the Cape Verde Frontal Zone, which separates the shadow zone from the ventilated subtropical gyre, are calculated.