Internal tidal currents over the summit of cross seamount

Spectral analysis of 46 days of record from a current meter deployed above the summit of Cross Seamount (approximately 300 km west of the Hawaiian Islands) indicates that the strongest current fluctuations were driven by the semidiurnal tide. The tides accounted for 28% of the variance in the current spectrum, were mainly baroclinic in character, and were propagated towards the west-northwest. The amplitude of the S2 current flowing parallel to the major axis of the current ellipse ranged between 4 and 9 cm-1 s. The S2 current was 1.5 times larger than the M2 current. This ratio is 4 times larger than is expected for this region of the Pacific and is not a general characteristics of flows over seamounts. Instantaneous current speeds over the seamount often exceeded 20 cm s-1 and were probably responsible for the small ripples observed on the sediment-covered regions of the summit. ?? 1990.