OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS AT A FIXED LOCATION IN 

 WESTERN KANE BASIN, MAY 1969 



by 

 ROBIN D. MUENCH' 



From 3 to 20 May 1969 a three man scientific 

 party carried out an oceanographic sampling pro- 

 gram from a fixed position (79°16'N, 72°48' W) on 

 the fast ice in western Kane Basm (fig. 1). Sam- 

 jDling was conducted by Eddy Carmack and James 

 Overland, both from the University of Washing- 

 ton, and Gordon Tidmarsh from McGill Univer- 

 sity. The project was carried out under the auspices 

 of the Arctic Institute of North America's Baffin 

 Bay-North Water Project, with logistical support 

 provided by the Canadian Polar Continental Shelf 

 Project. The details of the field work have been 

 discussed by Tidmarsh, et al. ( 1969) . 



Scientific features and problems in the Northern 

 Baffin Bay region have been sununarized by 

 Muench (1971). The purpose of the Kane Basin 

 field program was to : 



a. Determine the vertical temperature and 

 salinity structures of the water column at a time 

 of year when late winter (i.e., premelt) conditions 

 were prevalent ; 



b. Attempt detection of south-flowing Arctic 

 Ocean Water of the proper type to contribute to 

 Baffin Bay Bottom Water ; and 



c. Obtain a series of current measurements to 

 define the flow through Kane Basin. 



The sampling was conducted in approximately 

 the deepest portion of the channel (fig. 1). Depth 

 at the station position was determined by lead line 

 to be 237 m. Three stations per day were taken at 

 fixed hours ; a fourth was taken at a random time 

 to reduce the effects of periodic phenomena (e.g., 

 tidal and inertial ) on the samples. Water samples 

 were acquired from seven depths except for two 

 stations (32 and 42) ; samples at these two stations 

 were taken at 10-m intervals to detect fine struc- 

 ture in the water column. Standard Nansen bottles 

 were used in obtaining samples. 



1 University of Washington. Present address : Institute of 

 Marine Science, University of Alaslca. College, Alaslta 99701. 



Temperatures were read from reversing ther- 

 mometers supplied by the University of Washing- 

 ton. Strong ambient temperature gradients inside 

 the tent (which served as a laboratory) made it 

 difficult to obtain agreement between the two ther- 

 mometers on any one bottle. The temperature 

 accuracy is estimated to be ±0.03°C. Salinity sam- 

 ples were decanted into polyethylene bottles and 

 returned to the University of Washington for 

 unalysi.s. Tlie salinities are accurate to ±0.02%o. 



Two Braincon Model 381 recording current 

 meters were suspended through the ice at 50 to 

 150 m depths from 5 to 20 May. The deeper meter 

 malfunctioned and yielded no data, while the 

 shallower meter yielded a complete record. Speeds 

 are estimated to be accurate to ±3% of the meas- 

 ured values, while directions are accurate only to 

 about ±20° due to the weak horizontal magnetic 

 field in the surv^ey area. 



The hydi'ographic results (fig. 2) indicated that 

 time-dependent changes in the water column were 

 negligible over the measurement period. A nearly 

 homogeneous layer, characterized by frequent 0.02 

 to 0.03°C supercooling, extended from the surface 

 down to 50 m. Temperature was assumed to be a 

 more reliable indicator of downward convection 

 than salinity (Aagaard and Coachman, 1968) and 

 suggested downward convection to 100 ra, below 

 which strong thermo- and haloclines occurred 

 down to 200 m. No water of the proper type to 

 contribute to Baffin Bay Bottom Water ( — 0.38 to 

 -0.40°C, 34.48 to 34.50%o) was detected. 



The measured currents are summarized in the 

 form of speed and direction histograms (fig. 3). 

 The complete set of current measurements was too 

 long for inclusion in this report, but may be 

 obtained from the Department of Oceanography, 

 University of Washington. 



The directions were bimodal, with a general 

 southward (about 220° T) flow and less frequent 



