Sverdrup, et al, 1960 indicates that the cir- 

 culation in the Barents Sea is predominantly 

 counterclockwise and wind driven. 



Perhaps one of the most detailed discussion 

 of currents of this region is by Novitskiy 

 (1961). Preobrozhenskiy and Novitskiy dis- 

 tinguish twenty-nine separate currents and 

 their branches as occurring in the Barents Sea. 

 Of particular interest to this study was a cur- 

 rent which they labeled as the Pechora Current. 

 This current originates in the Western Barents 

 Sea and flows through the Pechora Sea where 

 a portion of it enters the Kara Sea through 

 Proliv Karaskiye Varota. This is shown in 

 Figures 2 and 4 by a tongue of warm water 

 protruding into the southern Kara Sea at 

 about station 3. 



It has generally been accepted that the pre- 

 dominant current scheme in the Kara Sea is 

 cyclonic with water entering from the Barents 

 Sea, flowing adjacent to the east coast of 

 Novaya Zemlya, turning northward and exiting 

 through the northeastern portion of the Kara 

 Sea. Such a circulation is not evidenced in the 

 data of this study (Figures 2, 4, 6, and 8). 

 Rather, there seems to be a general northward 

 flow through the Kara Sea. It is likely that there 

 is some entrainment with the outflow from 

 the Ob and Yenisey Rivers which would con- 

 tribute to the general pattern of northward 

 flow. 



CONCLUDING REMARKS 



The studies done by Nansen (1902) , Sverdrup 

 (1950), Zenkevitch (1963), Milligan (in press) 

 and this author suggest that the circulation in 

 the Kara Sea is not stationery and, in fact, is 

 characterized by few permanent features. It is 

 doubtful that such difi'ering conditions could 

 be observed without some transient phenomena 

 being present. 



Nansen (1902) observed the presence of 

 " 'dead water' waves" in the area and cited 

 evidence of oscillations of the boundary between 

 warm and cold currents. Neumann and Pierson 

 (1966) state that conditions of strong density 

 gradients similar to those found in the Kara 

 Sea are very conducive to the formation of 

 internal waves. It is indeed very probable that 

 some of the (temporal) variation of the nor- 

 mally observed oceanographic parameters is 

 due to internal oscillations in the Kara Sea. 

 However, with the present data available, which 

 do not include extensive time series observa- 

 tions, it is very difficult to determine the modes 

 of the oscillations and hence the forces which 

 govern them. 



Future surveys in the area might consider 

 the possibility of conducting continuous or close 

 interval serial observations at several stations 

 in order to determine the modes of these oscilla- 

 tions if, in fact, they do exist. Such oscillations 

 would probably be easiest to detect and observe 

 in the summer months when the ice has melted 

 and the river outflow is greatest resulting in 

 a maximum vertical salinity gradient. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Milligan, Donald, "The Kara Sea, July-October 1965, 

 Results of the Oceanographic Survey Conducted 

 onboard the USCGC NORTHWIND (WAGE 282)", 

 U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Washington, D.C. 

 (in press) 



Nansen, Fridtjof, "The Norwegian North Polar Ex- 

 pedition, 1893-1896, Scientific Results", Vol. Ill, 

 Christania, 1902. 



Neumann, Gerhard and Willard J. Pierson, Jr., Prin- 

 ciples of Physical Oceanography, Prentice-Hall, in- 

 corporated, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1966. 



Novitskiy, V. P., "Permanent Currents of the Northern 

 Barents Sea", Trudy Gosudo. Okeano. Inst., Vol. 64, 



pp. 1-32, Leningrad, 1961. Trans. No. 349, U.S. 



Naval Oceanographic Office, Washington, D.C. 1967. 

 Sverdrup, H. U., "Physical Oceanography of the North 



Polar Sea", Arctic, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1950. 

 Sverdrup, H. U., M. W. Johnson and R. H. Fleming, 



The Oceans, Their Physics, Chemistry and General 



Biology, Prentice-Hall, Incorporated, Englewood 



Cliffs, New Jersey, 1960. 

 Wust, George, "Stratification and Circulation in the 



Antillean and Caribbean Basin" Columbia University, 



Press, New York and London, 1964. 

 Zenkevitch, L., Biology of the Seas of the U.S.S.R., In- 



terscience Publishers, London, 1963. 



