NOAA PROFESSIONAL PAPER 11 



1 ml/I — a large area off the central New Jersey coast and 

 a smaller area off northern New Jersey where the oxygen 

 deficiency was first reported. These were separated by an 

 area of relatively high but variable oxygen content. 



Hansen and H. B. Stewart, Jr., for suggestions and review; 

 and to the officers and crew of the NOAA ships Albatross 

 IV, George B. Kelez, and Researcher for their long and 

 diligent hours. 



SUMMARY 



Study of the oceanic conditions and events, and their 

 progression in the New York Bight during m76. indicates 

 the presence of warmer-than-normal bottom waters early 

 in the year. This is in accord with the findings of Hazel- 

 worth and Cummings (ch. 3). and suggests a larger amount 

 of offshore water in the Bight than usual. There may be 

 a connection between this presence of offshore water and 

 the large concentration of Ceratium tripos in the Middle 

 Atlantic Bight in 1976. (See chapter 9, part 1.) By June, 

 however, surface and bottom waters were nearly normal. 



The distribution of properties in the Hudson Shelf Val- 

 ley and off New Jersey in May, June, and September, and 

 at the hurricane Belle XBT and bottom-oxygen stations, 

 suggests an onshore movement of water beneath the pyc- 

 nocline. This agrees with the sluggish onshore set found 

 in the current meter records by Mayer and others (ch. 7). 

 The thickness of the subpycnocline layer is about 4 m less 

 in May and June off New Jersey than off Long Island, 

 though the bottom of the pycnocline is at a shallower 

 depth off New Jersey. This difference in thickness was less 

 in September. In both localities bottom water was effec- 

 tively isolated from the surface by a relatively strong pyc- 

 nocline. This pycnocline did not appear to be significantly 

 stronger than normal, particularly early in the year. 



The occurrence of bottom water that was 2.5° C warmer 

 than normal in April and 3° to 4° C colder than normal 

 in the latter half of the season indicates advection of bot- 

 tom water into the region. If the continental shelf were 

 the source of this water, then it must have been subjected 

 to anomalous conditions upstream when it was at the sur- 

 face. Hurricane Belle had some effect on the water column 

 down to at least 25 m. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The authors are grateful to Thomas Azarovitz for the 

 hurricane Belle XBT and bottom oxygen data; to D. V. 



REFERENCES 



Beardsley. R C, Boicourt, W. C. and Hansen. D V.. 1976. Physical 

 oceanography of the Middle Atlantic Bight. Am. Soc. Limnol. 

 Oceanogr. Spec. Symp. 2:20-34. 



Bigelow, H. B.. 1933. Studies of the waters on the continental shelf. 

 Cape Cod to Chesapeake Bay. 1. The cycle of temperatures. Papers 

 in Physical Oceanography and Meteorology 2(4). Massachusetts In- 

 stitute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

 135 pp. 



Bowman. M. J., and Wunderlich, L. D.. 1977 Hydrographic Properties. 

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Hazelworth. J. B., Cummings. S. R.. Starr. R B . and Berberian. G. 

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Hazelworth. J. B.. Cummings. S. R,. Minton, S M.. and Berberian. 

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Hazelworth. J. B.. Starr. R B . Cummmgs. S R . and Berberian. G. 

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National Oceanic and Atmosphcnc Administration, 1977. Marine Weather 

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Starr. R. B.. Hazelworth. J. B . Cummings. S R.. and Berberian. G. 

 A.. 1977. MESA New York Bight Project expanded water column 

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Steimle. F. W.. 1977. Appendix III under Physical/Chemical Oceanog- 

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