104 A TEXTBOOK OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



coastal waters of Morocco have a salinity a little less than 

 35-5, the Gulf Stream to 40 N. Lat. over 36 per thousand. 



The salinity declines in the region of the equatorial calms. 

 On the tropical coasts of West Africa it is under 34-5 per mille, 

 but in regions reached by the South Equatorial Current it is 

 over 35-5. 



In contrast to the North, the South Atlantic has its 

 maximum salinity not far from the American coast, between 

 12 and 21 S. Lat., and from the neighbourhood of the coast 

 to nearly 10 W. Long. On the other hand, the salinity in 

 the South Atlantic decreases rapidly to the southward, so that 

 south of 40 S. Lat. a salinity of over 35 is only met with south 

 of the Cape of Good Hope and in the southern extensions of 

 the Brazilian Current. 



The Caribbean Sea has a salinity of between 35-5 and 36, 

 except in the immediate vicinity of the coasts, where it is 

 somewhat less, but as we proceed north and west the salinity 

 increases ; near Jamaica it is 36, in the Gulf of Mexico 36^9, 

 except on the north and west coasts, where the influence of the 

 Mississippi makes itself felt. 



The North Atlantic waters have been investigated in detail 

 in recent years by the International Commission, and here, as 

 elsewhere, the connection between ocean currents and salinity 

 is very noticeable. The so-called Gulf Stream or Atlantic Drift 

 water between the Faroes and Scotland has a salinity between 

 35 and 35'3, and branches of this drift can be traced as far as 

 and beyond the North Cape. On the opposite coast of Green- 

 land the Polar Current has water of under 33 per mille, and in 

 regions where melting ice is met with this may sink to 30. 

 Kara Sea has a salinity of about 30, with a maximum of 31*3, 

 while the coastal waters of North Siberia sink to 22 or even 21 

 per thousand. A branch of the Atlantic Drift extends up into 

 Baffin's Bay, where salinity of 33 has been met with. 



