PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY 



295 



({ id 60 

 5 d550 

 t 



5tatLoa 17 

 2750 



3600 3650%, 



mixed water enters like a wedge between the other water- 

 masses at a depth of about 1000 metres, as clearly shown in the 

 two sections. In this part of the Atlantic Ocean the salinity 

 and temperature first decrease for some hundred metres below 

 the surface ; then both increase a little through the influence of 

 the outflow from the Mediterranean, below which they again Outflow of 

 decrease. The admixture of water from the Mediterranean can fj^ter^^jo"^^" 

 be widely traced over the eastern part of the North Atlantic, as the North 

 already pointed out by Buchanan and Buchan. It is also ^'^^"^^'^• 

 evident from our ob- 

 servations at a number 

 of stations, for instance 

 at Station 17, off the 

 coast of Portugal, as 

 shown in Fig. 201. In 

 the map showing the 

 physical conditions at 

 the depth of 500 

 fathoms (given in Fig. 

 202), we can trace it 

 by the comparatively 

 high salinities and 

 temperatures reaching 

 north towards Ireland 

 and west towards the 

 Azores. This ad - 

 mixture is far more in 

 evidence along the 

 coasts of Europe than 

 along those of Africa ; 

 this signifies a drift 

 towards the north, 

 which might be ex- 

 pected as an effect of the earth's rotation and the consequent 

 deflection to the right. It appears, however, that some of this 

 mixed water is carried far to the south-west by the great 

 currents running between Madeira and the Azores. 



This wedge of mixed water from the Mediterranean is not 

 met with near the surface nor in the greater depths. Thus it 

 is not seen in the map (Fig. 203) showing the physical condi- 

 tions at a depth of 200 fathoms (366 metres). At this level the 

 saltest water (with a salinity above 36 per thousand) is found in the 

 south-western part of the North Atlantic (excluding the fresher 



1000 



1500 



Fig. 201.— Salinity, Temperature, and Density at 

 Station 17, west of Portugal (23rd April 1910). 



