OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE GRAND BANKS REGION 

 OF NEWFOUNDLAND IN 1973 



By 



Richard M. Hayes 

 Robert Q. Robe^ 



INTRODUCTION 



Three oceanographic cruises were conducted 

 aboard USCGC EVERGREEN (WAGO 295) 

 during the 1973 Ice Patrol season. The 1973 Ice 

 Patrols were especially eventful because these 

 cruises were the first deployments for the USCGC 

 EVERGREEN after extensive refitting to im- 

 prove habitability and to expand and modernize 

 the oceanographic working spaces and gear. The 

 cruises were undertaken to support Commander, 

 International Ice Patrol and were intended for 

 use in computer predictions of iceberg drift on 

 the Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Table 1). 

 In addition to the occupation of hydrographic 

 stations along Ice Patrol standard sections (fig. 

 1), three Intensive Dynamic Surveys were con- 

 ducted during the third cruise for the verification 

 of a mathematical model of the Labrador Current 

 when in the vicinity of the Grand Banks 

 (Kollmeyer, 1975). Two near-bottom current 

 meter moorings were deployed in two separate 

 locations during two different periods along the 



continental slope for an investigation of temporal 

 variations in the Labrador Current at depth 

 (Table 2). 



The 1973 International Ice Patrol season which 

 extended from 24 January to 31 July was equal 

 in length to the longest season (1972) in the Ice 

 Patrol's 60-year history. The number of icebergs 

 sighted south of 48°N latitude during 1973, 847, 

 was exceeded only five times previously in Ice 

 Patrol records. For the second consecutive year, 

 a surface patrol was required, and cutters were 

 deployed from 17 March to 10 July to search for 

 and standby the southeasternmost icebergs in the 

 Grand Banks region. 



In addition to the Ice Patrol data contained 

 herein, eight Standard Sections (A2, A3, and A4) 

 occupied from January through November of 

 1973 (see Appendix A.) are included in the data 

 listings. 



' Mr. Robe is preseiitl.v at the U.S. Coast Guard Re- 

 search and Development Center, Groton, CT 06340. 



