Paper 5 



note the sharp spike of extremely Low sea Level that occurred 

 just before the 1974 period of high sea Level at Talara. 

 Anomalously high sea levels are also evident at Callao durino 

 1972. Perioas of low sea level occurred at all stations in this 

 group during 1949-5C^ 1954-56y and 1966-67. 



CONCLUSION 



Anomalies of monthly mean sea level observations along the west 

 coast of North and South America persist for periods ranging from 

 several months to two years or longer and are coherent in space 

 for hundreds of kilometers. Anomalous "events" can be traced 

 along the coast from Chile to Alaska and may be relatea to 

 coastal circulation processes which may in turn affect larval 

 drift and reproductive success of marine organisms. Certainly 

 the major periods of anomalously high sea Level during 1941-42/' 

 1957-59/' and 1.972 were associated with unusual changes in the 

 abundance or distribution of many marine species. It is hoped 

 that further research on the factors affecting sea Level will 

 Lead to s better understanding of ocean circulation processes and 

 their effects on populations of marine organisms. 



LITERATURE CITED 



FAVORITE/' F. 



1974. On flow into the Bering Sea through Aleutian Islano 

 passes. In D. W. Hood and E. J. Kelly (editors)x Ocean- 

 ography of the Bering Sea. Occas. Publ. No. 2^ Inst. Mar. 

 S ci . /^ U. Alaska^ Fairbanks. 



LISITZIN, E. 



1974. SeaLevel changes. Elsevier Sci. PuDl. Co./ hJ.Y.r 

 286 D. 



LISITZIN/ E.r and J. G. PATTULLO. 



1961. The principal factors influencing the seasonal 

 oscillation of sea level. J. Geophys. Res. 66:345-852. 



PATTULLO/ J . r W. MUNKr R. REVELLE/ and E. STRONG. 



1955. The seasonal oscillation in sea Level. J. Mar. Res. 

 14:88-155 . 



57 



