22 EXPLORATIONS, WESTERN ATLANTIC, STEAMER BACHE, 1914. 



north of the Bahama Bank and along the contmental shelf the 

 water was much fresher, its salinity falling to about SS.S^'/oo off 

 the northeast slope of the bank, as far as station 10212, and in the 

 Providence Channel, to 34.9°/oo in the exit of the Straits of 

 Florida (station 10206), and to about 35.1Voo off Chesapeake 

 Bay. Thus, the low temperature and salinity which characterize the 

 surface waters west of Bermuda (p. 6, 7) were limited to a shallow 

 zone, this being the warmest and saltest area at the 600-meter level. 

 Similarly the very high surface temperature at the mouth of the 



CAPE HATTER 



RMMDA 



Fig. 18.— Temperatures at 600 meters. 



Straits of Florida and northeast of the Bahamas in general was 

 equally superficial, cold water rising nearer to the surface there than 

 over the oceanic basin. 



At 1,000 meters conditions are puzzling. It is clear that the 

 temperature at this level was highest (12°-13°) northwest of Ber- 

 muda, and that most of the area studied was about 10°, with cooler 

 water near the coast — i. e., that the general distribution of temper- 

 ature was essentially similar to that of the 600-meter level. But the 

 low temperatures (about 7°) at stations 10181, 10183, 10185, and 

 10171, suggest a tongue of cold water, extending from southeast to 



