84 



lay next to the shore with sufficiently strong temperature 

 slopes to establish a southerly drift. However, during the 

 summer period, there were two months during which cold water 

 was nearshore in part of the bay and offshore along the rest 

 of the coastline. Thus, during the months when the surface 

 layers next to shore were consistently warm, the Subsurface 

 Water Unit did show marked variations from its constant pattern 

 in the other months . 



The flat surfaces which occurred in the upper water in the 

 offshore area were not present in the lower layers. Only in 

 October were the thermal surfaces of the entire outer shelf 

 flat, although in all but two of the remaining months there 

 were low gradients in portions of the offshore area. The 

 inshore subsurface unit had flat topography over the entire 

 bay during three months, February, May, and September, and no 

 slopes in portions of the area in seven of the remaining nine 

 months. Taken as a whole, therefore, the Subsurface Water Unit 

 is more complex throughout the year than the surface layer, but 

 the annual cycle is less extreme. 



Meteorologic Relationship of the Annual Distribution . The 

 shift in the major cold and warm water units is probably asso- 

 ciated with the oscillation of the dominant winds along the 

 southern California coast. A dominant, but not prevailing, 

 northwest wind blows during the winter and even though it may 

 be frequently modified by frontal winds, its constancy over the 

 ocean is remarkable. The Santa Monica Mountains diminish the 

 force of these winds along the Malibu shore, but this effect 

 does not extend beyond the city of Santa Monica. South to about 



