NO. 13 SALINITY OF PACIFIC SURFACE WATER— CLARK I 5 



A water of low salinity descends to the southward near the coast of 

 Kamchatka, and apparently continues down the Kuril chain ; further 

 from the coast the water oi the Bering Sea has a salinity of about 

 1.0250, corresponding to the latitude. 



METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS TENDING TO LOWER THE 

 COMPARATIVE SALINITY OF THE PACIFIC 



Professor Kriimmel has shown that the Pacific is less saline than 

 the Atlantic, the difference between them being comparatively slight 

 in the southern hemisphere, hut very considerable in the northern. 

 A preliminary examination of the data available for the portion of 

 the north Pacific north of Puget Sound shows that the low salinity 

 of this area is much mure marked on the eastern than on the western 

 side. Professor Wo.ekoff has explained the increased salinity of the 

 Atlantic by the constant loss of water from the Atlantic and from the 

 Atlantic water sheds through the operation of constant westerly 

 winds which, passing across Europe, Asia and Africa, charged with 

 Atlantic water, deposit it in the interior basins of those continents 

 which have no connection with the oceans, and even in the Asiatic 

 water shed of the Pacific itself. The Pacific loses no water in this 

 way on account of the high mountains which form an almost unbroken 

 barrier along - its eastern shores. 



Till-; SEASONAL VARIATION IX THE SALINITY OF THE WATER 

 OFF THE CALIFORNIAN COAST 



A preliminary examination of the salinity records obtained by the 

 " Albatross " off the Californian coast, with the necessary corrections 

 applied, shows a most interesting condition. In the summer the 

 isohalines, upon reaching the vicinity of the Californian coast, bend 

 abruptly to the northward and run more or less parallel with the 

 shore, this effect being noticeable nearly to Puget Sound. In the 

 winter this distortion of the isohalines disappears, and they then run 

 to the coast almost exactly along the parallels of latitude. 



Dr. Thorade has worked out in great detail the seasonal variation 

 in temperature for the Californian coast, and he finds that the iso- 

 therms near the coast bend downward and run far to the southward 

 in summer, but become more or less coincident with the parallels of 

 latitude in winter. Me has explained the phenomenon as resulting 

 from the upwelling of abyssal water along the Californian coast in 

 summer, this upwelling decreasing and practically disappearing in 



