DAVIS STRAIT AND LABRADOR SEA 83 



ing to the shelf, deflected much of its waters into Pludson Strait. 

 Those portions of the Baffin Land Current which continued directly 

 down (he Labrador coast (fig. 47) were joined by an outflow from the 

 south side of Hudson Strait. This stream constituted the insliore 

 band of the Labrador Current throughout the remainder of its 

 length. The outer belt, on the otlier liand, impinging in about lati- 

 tude (58° in 1928, prevailed along the continental edge as far south as 

 the observations extended oft' St. John's. This band of the Labrador 

 Current, reflecting its West Greenland source as shown on page 45, 

 was much warmer, deeper, and more rapid than the inshore one. 

 The banding of the Labrador Current and its effect on the drift of 

 icebergs has been discussed by Smith (1931). 



It will be noted that the velocities of the Labrador Current in 1928 

 were much greater south of Hudson Strait than north of that latitude. 

 The acceleration of the current is attributed to the convergence of 

 the West Greenland Current from the east as well as the discharge 

 from Hudson Strait on the west. Land drainage from the Hudson 

 Bay Basin alone indicates that the discharge through Hudson Strait 

 probably exceeds the inflow. Tangible evidence of such contribu- 

 tions is to be observed in the increase of the stream lines on the cur- 

 rent map (fig. 47) just south of Hudson Strait. A computation of 

 the volume of the currents through Hudson Strait, based on stations 

 1285-1287 taken by the General Greene in 1931, gave a net discharge 

 of about 1.0 million cubic meters per second. The fact, however, that 

 these stations did not completely span the strait on the north and 

 also that the inflow^ through Gabriel Strait was unaccounted for. 

 causes us to estimate the net discharge to have been 0.5 million cubic 

 meters per second. 



In conclusion it may be stated that the surface waters of the 

 Labrador Current are collected from the following principal sources : 

 The West Greenland Current, the Baffin Land Current, Hudson 

 Strait, and the Strait of Belle Isle. On the other hand, the Labrador 

 Current discharges as follows : into Hudson Strait ; into the Strait of 

 Belle Isle ; eastward into the Labrador Sea, south of the latitude of 

 Hamilton Inlet; southward past Newfoundland; and throughout its 

 length through cabbeling along its offshore side. (See p. 175.) 



CROSS SECTION OF THE CURRENTS 



In order to make a systematic study, the 1928 observations have 

 been grouped in a series of ten vertical cross sections, H to Q (fig. 

 46), more or less equally spaced between Cumberland Gulf, Baffin 

 Land, and St. John's, Newfoundland. 



Cumberland Gulf. — A section of the Baffin Land Current in the 

 offing of Cumberland Gulf on the point of being joined by a branch 

 of the West Greenland Current is represented by H (fig. 48). The 

 profile shows that below the surface the south-flowing current was 

 divided into two bands by a wall of dead water. In the outer band 

 the 5-centimeter-per-second-velocity line extended to a depth of ap- 

 proximately 3'00 meters, but there was weak southerly current even 

 down to 600 meters. This draft undoubtedly marks the depth of 

 the sill of Davis Strait over which the current had recently passed. 

 If the velocity lines on section H (fig. 48) be compared with those 

 on other profiles taken farther south, it reveals the Baffin Land 



