OCEANOGRAPHY — ISELIN 265 



be strikingly different from those of the convectional current, so 

 that it would be possible to decide roughly in other profiles how 

 much of the movement was due to wind and how much to convec- 

 tional forces. A preliminary examination of the observations has 

 indicated that this was perhaps too much to hope for, yet the section 

 will be most important when the time comes to establish in detail 

 the water movements of the North Atlantic. 



In the course of running these important sections, opportunity 

 was found for examining several more special regions. In the first 

 place, a section was made off the Amazon River (March, 1932) 

 showing the transition from oceanic conditions to those of fresh 

 water. This section will be mainly of interest from the chemical 

 point of view. In the second place, a good section from the West 

 Indies out to Bermuda was made (April, 1932) to show up the 

 nature of the Antilles current. This is the current which is sup- 

 posed to carry southern water northward outside the islands and 

 to join with the Gulf Stream near the Straits of Florida. Finally 

 several short sections have been run across the coastal waters between 

 Cape Cod and Cape Hatteras, on the eastern seaboard of the United 

 States. This work was in connection with a study of the coastal 

 conditions throughout the year begun by the United States Bureau 

 of Fisheries. 



So much for the routine temperature and salinity observations 

 made m deep water during the first year of the Woods Hole Oceano- 

 graphic Institution. It must be remembered that in the course of 

 collecting this huge number of water samples, the opportunity was 

 not lost to examine them for oxygen content, Pn, P2O5, and PO4. 

 Therefore, the work has a most important chemical aspect besides 

 giving data for the study of ocean currents. 



In the field of marine meteorology, the work carried out on board 

 the Atlantis has been mainly on two problems. Considerable data 

 have accumulated that are being used to show more accurately the 

 relationship between the rate of evaporation at the sea surface and 

 the wind velocity, as well as its dependence on the stability of the 

 lower layer of the atmosphere. About 100 pilot-balloon ascents 

 have been observed with a theodolite over a large area of the Atlantic 

 with a view of finding the frictional force exerted by the wind on 

 the ocean surface. As is usually the case with scientific work at 

 sea, it has taken considerable time to develop a satisfactory technique 

 in making these observations. 



From the geologic standpoint, the Atlantis has only done a small 

 amount of work during the past year. An investigation of the prob- 

 lem of the formation of the continental shelf off the Atlantic coast 

 States has been in progress in the laboratory at Woods Hole. Most 



