The seasonal barolinic circulation in the Gulf of Maine is partly determined by the distribution of dense water that enters from the continental slope and spreads over sills into the deep basins of the Gulf. The slope water enters the Gulf as an intermittent deep flow throught the Northeast Channel, which provides the principal connection with the Atlantic Ocean. Warm-core rings from the Gulf Stream occasionally approach the mouth of the Northeast Channel, and its times, ring water contributes to or modifies the inflowing slope water. For example, sequential surveys in June and July of 1986 showed that a ring streamer crowed against Georges Bank and brushed obliquely across the channel mouth. The resulting inflow in July flooded the channel mouth with streamer-modified slope water, which over-whelmed the more usual Maine Intermediate Water outflow noted 1 month earlier. Compared to previous years, relatively little slope water was found inside the Gulf in June 1986, and it is tempting to speculate that a delayed spin-up of the interior baroclininc circulation began with the major inflow episode observed in July. Warm-core rings from the Gulf Stream may influence the timing, intensity, and structure of the circulation and dependent processes that develop each year in the Gulf of Maine. A test of this hypothesis will require long-term monitoring of the Northeast Channel region, coupled with seasonal hydrographic surveys and current measurements at strategic locations inside the Gulf of Maine. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1987