LAUSR

The Florida Current (FC) contributes to Atlantic circulation by carrying the western boundary flow of the subtropical gyre and the upper branch of meridional overturning circulation. Repeated FC hydrographic (velocity, salinity, and temperature) sections during 1982-1987 and 2001-2015 characterize its water mass structure and associated transport variability. On average, FC volume transport comes from subtropical North Atlantic water (NAW, 44%), Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW, 14%), surface water (SW, 27%), and an indistinct source (Rem 15%), while salinity transport relative to the average salinity along 26°N comes from NAW (55%), AAIW (0.2%), SW (30%), and Rem (15%). From 1982-1987 to 2001-2015, NAW, AAIW, and Rem salinified by 0.03-0.16 g kg-1 and increased the salinity anomaly transport by 3%. These patterns imply that advective salt transport by the FC (1): is sensitive to subtropical North Atlantic variability; and (2) is partially decoupled from the volumetric pathway of the upper overturning branch.