91 



sloping gradient to the east. Thus, net motion in the upper 

 surface layers opposite Venice and Manhattan Beach would be 

 strictly due to wind drift. 



The topography of the subsurface water unit was similar 

 to the upper layer in November with temperature slopes oriented 

 so as to develop landward flows off Santa Monica and Manhattan 

 Beach, and a southerly flow out of the bay opposite Redondo 

 (Fig. 32). A gyral of cold water was prominent about four 

 miles offshore from Playa del Rey and a gyral of warm water 

 elongated parallel to the shore occurred over the shelf south 

 of Redondo Canyon. The northern gyral may have aided in 

 producing a seaward flow of water opposite Hyperion, but the 

 gradient is gentle and in that area the currents were probably 

 the result of minor fluctuations with tidal periods. 



The least complex pattern noted during the winter period 

 occurred on May 23-24, 1956 (Fig. 33). That this pattern was 

 drawn from temperatures taken at night in the absence of wind 

 and solar heating may indicate a rather rapid change in the 

 conditions of the mixed layer from the more complex slope 

 systems developed in the daytime. There was no horizontal 

 gradient over the entire inshore area on those days and the 

 only semblance of slopes occurred offshore and off the Palos 

 Verdes Hills? both trending in a southerly direction. Water 

 motion in the upper layers under such conditons is controlled 

 by tides and winds (Fig. 34). 



As with the surface unit topography, the subsurface water 

 had a relatively simple temperature distribution. There was 

 a general rise of the isotherms toward shore, but for the most 



