1 66 



DISCOVERY REPORTS 



STATION NUMDERS— WS705 

 MILE3 FROM C0A5T_ ISO 



W57a4 



100 



I 



WS703 



W57DI W5700W5698 



|W569aws637 



100 



200 



300 



400 



4742 



1003 



SOUNDING IN METRES _ 4026 - 



Fig. 46. Distribution of salinity. Section off Punta Aguja, July 21-23. The position of this section is shown in Figs. 2 



and 12; the corresponding temperature section, in Fig. 36. 



CAPO BLANCO 



At Capo Blanco, surface salinity is lowered from two causes: at the surface by the 

 southerly projecting tongue of the Equatorial Counter-current, and from below by up- 

 welling. The upwelling which is seen in Figs. 41 and 50 to be induced offshore, and the 

 southerly intrusion of equatorial water seen in the poorly saline hot-water tongue, are 

 both probably indications of the divergence of the Peru Current from the South 

 American coast. At a depth of 40-120 m. a mid-water tongue of higher salinity 

 (35-10 °/oo) represents an advance of subtropical water towards the coast, presumably 

 to compensate for the upwelling water. 



SANTA ELENA 



The mid-water tongue noted off Capo Blanco is drawn both northwards and towards 

 the Ecuador coast, beneath the Equatorial Counter-current. This may be seen in Fig. 49, 

 which represents a section in two planes. On the right of the section, Sts. WS 715-719 

 run east and west off Santa Elena. On the left, Sts. WS 719-726 run north-east by 

 north and south-west by south, that is, they run very nearly at right angles to those 

 off Santa Elena: they run across the direction of the Peru Current on its course from 

 South America to the Galapagos Islands. At this stage the current represents the 

 transition between the Peru and the South Equatorial Currents. The observations off 



