The spatially varying, interior geostrophic baroclinic heat flux component of the total meridional oceanic heat flux near 24 ¿N in the Atlantic Ocean is examined using four transatlantic hydrographic sections including the October 1957 DISCOVERY II IGY section, the September 1981 ATLANTIS section, the August 1992 HESPERIDES section, the February 1998 RONALD H. BROWN section and the 1982 Levitus and the Lozier, Owens, Curry climatologies. The 1992 section is complemented by shorter western boundary sections obtained concurrently during the Trident cruise. We find an average southward baroclinic heat flux of 0.9¿0.3 PW with an annual cycle amplitude of ¿0.3 PW. More than 90% of the annual cycle is captured within 30¿ of the western boundary. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union