﻿298 
  

  

  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN" 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  conclusion 
  is 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  "no 
  hesitation, 
  therefore, 
  in 
  definitely 
  asssert- 
  

   ing 
  that 
  the 
  Labrador 
  Current 
  does 
  not 
  reach, 
  much 
  less 
  skirt, 
  the 
  

   coast 
  of 
  North 
  America, 
  from 
  Nova 
  Scotia 
  southward, 
  as 
  a 
  regular 
  

   event." 
  ^'^ 
  

  

  Several 
  agencies 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  cooler 
  coastal 
  

   waters 
  along 
  the 
  eastern 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  place 
  

   into 
  this 
  area 
  the 
  rivers 
  bring 
  their 
  drainage 
  waters 
  from 
  the 
  land, 
  

   these 
  waters 
  being 
  for 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  much 
  colder 
  than 
  the 
  

   open 
  ocean 
  waters. 
  Another 
  contributory 
  cause 
  is 
  the 
  deflection 
  by 
  

   the 
  earth's 
  rotation 
  of 
  cold 
  water 
  from 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  St. 
  Lawrence 
  

   against 
  the 
  American 
  coast. 
  Then, 
  too, 
  the 
  coastal 
  waters 
  are 
  closer 
  

  

  Stability 
  of 
  Current 
  

  

  < 
  over 
  75% 
  

  

  « 
  SO 
  - 
  75 
  ■' 
  

  

  ♦- 
  25 
  - 
  SO 
  •• 
  

  

  ♦- 
  under 
  25 
  " 
  

  

  Figure 
  6.— 
  Surface 
  currents 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Atlantic 
  Ocean 
  

  

  to 
  the 
  low 
  winter 
  temperatures 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  and 
  are 
  thus 
  made 
  colder 
  

   than 
  the 
  open 
  ocean 
  waters. 
  A 
  further 
  cause 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  winds, 
  

   which 
  along 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  are 
  prevailingly 
  from 
  the 
  

   land. 
  This 
  tends 
  to 
  drive 
  the 
  warmer 
  surface 
  water 
  seaward, 
  its 
  place 
  

   being 
  taken 
  by 
  the 
  cooler 
  subsurface 
  waters. 
  

  

  THE 
  NORTH 
  ATLANTIC 
  DRIFT 
  

  

  When 
  we 
  come 
  to 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  horizontal 
  circulation 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  

   Atlantic 
  Ocean 
  we 
  find 
  a 
  complex 
  system 
  of 
  interrelated 
  currents, 
  as 
  is 
  

   evident 
  from 
  a 
  glance 
  at 
  Figure 
  6. 
  In 
  this 
  figure, 
  which 
  is 
  adapted 
  

  

  w 
  H. 
  B. 
  Blgelow: 
  Physical 
  Oceanography 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Maine, 
  U. 
  S. 
  Bur. 
  of 
  Fisheries, 
  Doc. 
  No. 
  9G9, 
  

   p. 
  828, 
  Washington, 
  1927. 
  See 
  also 
  H. 
  B. 
  Bigelow: 
  Exploration 
  of 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Maine, 
  Qeogr. 
  

   Rev., 
  Vol. 
  18, 
  pp. 
  232-260, 
  1928. 
  

  

  