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Abstract Warm Core Rings (WCRs) are known to disrupt the shelf flow as well as drive strong heat transport onto the Middle Atlantic Bight shelf. We examine 27 rings sampled by the container shipOleander, 16 rings which have in‐situ velocity data and 11 rings identified from satellite sea surface height but with in‐situ temperature data, to study the variability in rings' impact on shelf break velocities and on the temperature of the adjacent shelf. WCRs that have higher rotational velocities and are closer to the shelf are found to exert greater influence on the along‐shelf velocities, with the fastest and closest rings reversing the direction of flow at the shelf break. As rings approach the study site, the Shelfbreak Jet is faster than when the rings are about to exit the study site, likely due to first steepening then flattening of the isopycnals at the Shelfbreak Front. Rings also have lasting impacts on the shelf temperature: rings with faster rotational velocities cool the shelf and rings with slower rotational velocities warm the shelf. The evolution of temperature on the shelf as a ring passes is strongly tied to the season. During warmer seasons, when temperature stratification on the shelf is strong, a ring cools the shelf; during periods of weak thermal stratification, rings tend to warm the shelf. Rings which cool the shelf are additionally associated with increased upwelling as they pass the study site. 

Abstract Repeat measurements of velocity and temperature profiles from the Container Motor Vessel (CMV) Oleander provide an unprecedented look into the variability on the New Jersey Shelf and upper continental slope. Here 1362 acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) velocity sections collected between 1994 and 2018 are analyzed in both Eulerian and stream coordinate reference frames to characterize the mean structure of the Shelfbreak Jet, as well as its seasonal to decadal variability. The Eulerian mean Shelfbreak Jet has a maximum jet velocity of 0.12 m s⁻¹. The maximum jet velocity peaks in April and May and reaches its minimum in July and August. In a stream coordinate framework, the jet is only identified in 61% of transects, and the mean stream coordinate Shelfbreak Jet has a maximum jet velocity of 0.32 m s⁻¹. Evidence is found that Warm Core Rings, originating from the Gulf Stream arriving in the Slope Sea adjacent to the New Jersey Shelf, shift the Shelfbreak Jet onshore of its mean position or entirely shutdown the Shelfbreak Jet's flow. At interannual timescales, variability in the Shelfbreak Jet velocity is correlated with the temperature on the New Jersey Shelf 2 months later. When considered in a stream coordinate framework, Shelfbreak Jet have decreased over the time period considered in the study.