Estimates of North Atlantic Ventilation and Mode Water Formation for

Lagrangian estimates for ventilation rates in the Gulf Stream Extension using Argo and World Ocean Circulation Experiment/Atlantic Climate and Circulation Experiment (WOCE/ACCE) float data, scatter-ometer (QuikSCAT) wind stress satellite observations, and altimetric [Archiving, Validation, and Inter-pretation of Satellite Oceanographic data (AVISO)] sea surface height (SSH) satellite observations from 2002 to 2006 are presented. Satellite winds and estimates of surface geostrophic currents allow the inclusion of the effects of currents on wind stress as well as their impact on the Ekman pumping. The presence of large surface geostrophic currents decreases the total Ekman pumping, contributing up to 20 % where the Gulf Streammakes its two sharpest turns, and increases the total Ekman pumping by 10 % or less everywhere else. The ageostrophic currents may be as large as 15 % of the geostrophic currents, but only in proximity of the Gulf Stream. Using currents and mixed layer depths (MLDs) that are either climatological or vary from year to year, obductedwater tends to originate along theGulf Stream,while subductedwater tends to originate to its south. However, using time-varyingMLDs for each year, subduction varies significantly, sometimes oppositely from obduction. The 188Water (EDW) subducts in different locations and is distributed differently each year bu