Figure 1

The Vema Channel as the key point controlling bottom water temperature in the Central and North Atlantic. (a) Distribution of bottom potential temperature in the Atlantic Ocean at depths greater than 3800 m according to WOA2018 data²¹. (b) Modeled mean bottom current velocities in the region of the Vema Channel connecting the Argentine and Brazil basins based on the data published in ref.^22,23. (c) Along-channel velocity distribution at the section across the Vema Channel based on LADCP data. Locations of two moorings are shown by black solid lines; the moored current meters are indicated by blue diamonds; the numbers indicate their depth in meters. (d) The bottom velocity time series measured in the channel from December 18, 2003 to May 18, 2007 from the instrument shown by green diamond in panel (c). The maps were generated using Golden Software Surfer version 18.1.186 (https://www.goldensoftware.com/products/surfer/).