Rotation of orbital currents in the trains of internal solitons in the ocean

We analyze the results of measurements of currents in the trains of internal solitons on the New-York shelf of the Atlantic Ocean performed in the course of the Joint US/Russia Internal Wave Remote Sensing Experiment (JUSREX). It was discovered that the thermocline is characterized by an almost monotonic anticyclonic variation of the direction of orbital currents in the trains of solitons but the direction of waves in each train is practically constant. As a rule, the current significantly deviates to the left from the direction of waves in the leading soliton and approaches the indicated direction in the rear solitons of the train. The angular rotation current velocity corresponded to periods varying within the range 12–24h and, on the average, was close to the local inertial period. It is shown that this rotation cannot be caused by the distorting influence of advection of background shear currents but, most likely, is connected with the unknown properties of internal solitons in the rotating ocean. Translated by Peter V. Malyshev and Dmitry V. Malyshev