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Alfred C. Redfield 



westward from the Peninsula of Paraguana. It provides a component which, when 

 mixed with water from Calabozo Bay, forms a mass of water slightly colder and less 

 saline than the water of the Caribbean. This mass may be traced as it flows west- 

 wards close to shore around the Peninsula of Guajira (Fig. 8). The Sailing Directions 

 report a westerly set of 1 -75 knots off this headland during the greater part of the year. 

 In summary, the physical circulation of the Gulf of Venezuela appears to consist 

 of two estuarine cells, separated by a transition zone of vertical mixing. The surface 

 outflow of the inner cell is fed by water escaping from Lake Maracaibo, and is con- 

 sumed in the mixing zone over the sill. This zone is the source of the deep counter- 



72" 7r 70" 



Fig. 8. Salinity at 1 metre depth in Gulf of Venezuela 



current which provides salt to the surface outflow. The outer cell, less clearly defined, 

 is fed by the water formed in the mixing zone, which escapes seaward at the surface 

 after mingling with water from a countercurrent drawn in from the subsurface layers 

 of the Caribbean. In both cells the surface drift is displaced to the left, under the 

 influence of the wind. 



The estuarine cell of Calabozo Bay finds its counterpart in many bays of the 

 eastern coast of North America. Aside from the quantitative effects of the controlling 

 topography, the more general difference in the circulation arises from the dominant 

 effect of the prevailing wind on the horizontal flow in Calabozo Bay, as compared to 

 the Corioli effect in the estuaries of higher latitudes. 



