34 EIGHTH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS 



INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUM- 

 BIA: Note on Work Since 1949 and Future Plans (By G. A. Pickard) 



The Institute of Oceanography of the University of British Colum- 

 bia has decided to devote most of its effort to a study of oceanographic 

 problems in the inlets of the B.C. coast. Before embarking upon a de- 

 tailed study of any one inlet, the Institute carried out during the sum- 

 mers of 1951 and 1952 a survey of most of the major inlets in the B.C. 

 mainland coast to extend the information then available. It is planned 

 to extend the study to the inlets of the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1953. 



Morphology of the Inlets. 



The inlets vary in length from 5 to 90 miles, are 1/2 to 3 miles wide, 

 and generally possess many abrupt bends. Only a few of the inlets had 

 been sounded before the 1951 cruise and so observations of depth were 

 made along the length of the inlets. The average depth is about 1100 

 feet (340 m.), depths of 1800 feet (550 m.) are common, and the maxi- 

 mum is about 2400 feet (740 m.). In some cases the bottoms are regular 

 but in the majority of cases considerable irregularities are observed. 

 Only two inlets have marked sills 150 feet (45 m.) while no very shal- 

 low sills such as occurring in the Norwegian fjords are known. The 

 most typical transverse section has the form of a truncated V, the rocky 

 sides of the inlets having slopes as steep as 45° while the mud bottom 

 is flat and level within the accuracy of a competent hydrographic 

 survey. 



Bottom Sediments. 



The predominant material is a finely divided grey mud. 93% of 

 the bottom samples taken in the survey contained mud, 22% contained 

 some sand and only 12% contained pebbles. Only 2 in 73 samples 

 smelled perceptibly of HgS. 



The bottom samples from Bute Inlet have been examined in detail 

 and are found to be predominantly silts with the sand fraction never 

 exceeding 5% except in areas off the mouths of inflowing rivers where 

 the sand fraction may be as much as 25%. The sediments are dark grey 

 when wet and light grey when dry. Quarts, feldspar and mica are the 

 predominant minerals. The organic content is less than 1% and the 

 calcium carbonate less than 1%. Diatoms are abundant and foramini- 

 fera and sponges are evident near the mouth of the Inlet. 



Water Structure. 



It is apparent that, with one possible exception, all the inlets are 

 estuaries in the current oceanographic sense of the word in that the sea 



