94 



Dean F. Bumpus and E. Lowe Pierce 



Fig. 1 (A). Location of stations, on Caryn Cruise 64, May and June 1953. Open circles indicate 



no plankton tows were made. 



shelf water from Cape Hatteras southwards. UnpubUshed data indicate that Caro- 

 linian Coastal water, as described below, extends to the offing of Daytona Beach and 

 possibly at certain times to the offing of Cape Canaveral. 



The Virginian Coastal water is freshened by river water entering close to the surface 

 inshore and salted by indrafts of slope water over the bottom from offshore (Bigelow 

 and Sears, 1935). There is no widespread contribution to this coastal water from the 

 south, nor flooding of the surface water with pure oceanic water of high temperature, 

 nor upwelling onto the shelf of cold abyssal water (Bigelow, 1933). 



The Carolinian Coastal water is composed of Florida Current water and river 

 effluent. This mixture is in general more saline than most coastal waters because the 

 river runoff is less than for other sections of the coast ; the effluent from the sounds 

 is more saline than from river mouths ; and the highly saline Florida Current frequently 

 makes broad invasions over the continental shelf. 



There is no regular communication between the Virginian and Carolinian Coastal 

 waters, although the frequent northeast storms from November to May (Miller, 



