stations, about 35 of them in two parts. About 15 stations are missing 

 entirely because of electrical interference, equipment problems, un- 

 readable records, and uncorrectable errors made on the digitizer. 



In the 1972 data most of the stations had two lowerings. The 

 sheer volume of plotted data dictated that both lowerings be put on one 

 plot and that the plot be of a size which could be reproduced without 

 reduction. These results were so much more desirable than the first 

 that all of the 1971 data were replotted in this way. 



Figure 2 shows a typical station listing, the output of MIZPRT. 

 The coding for the heading is detailed in Appendix I together with infor- 

 mation on the magnetic tape format. 



D. RESULTS 



Complete data sets (print-outs , plots , and tape) have been 

 submitted to the Arctic Submarine Laboratory. This report presents only 

 such data as is needed to describe and explain the observed phenomena. 

 A complete list of heading data for both 1971 and 1972 is given in Ap- 

 pendix II. 



In the following presentation, the oceanography of the area will 

 be presented followed by and intertwined with the nature and distribution 

 of anomalous temperature and sound velocity structures and their causes. 



The oceanography of the coastal region in the Eastern Chukchi 

 and southwestern Beaufort Seas is dominated by a warm current which has 

 its origin in Bering Strait. This current flows northeastward close to the 

 Alaskan Coast, rounds Pt. Barrow and flows eastward into the Beaufort 

 Sea. Although the southern portion of the current has been described pre- 

 viously (e.g., English, 1963) and its continuation to the northeast in- 

 ferred, this is the first time that it has been well described north of about 

 70°-30' N and the first time that a survey has followed its turn to the 

 east. Fortuitously, Hufford (1973) working independently at the same 

 time, followed it from our most easterly point near 152° W to about 147°W. 



The course of the current and its structure may be seen in a 

 series of diagrams. Figures 3 to 11. Figure 3 shows the location of six 

 vertical sections of temperature. Figure 4 shows a plan view of the maxi- 

 mum temperature in the water column. This type of presentation is neces- 

 sary because the warm water does not stay at a fixed depth; it starts at 

 the surface at the southernmost end of the cruise and descends ultimately 

 to the depths of 30-50 meters or deeper beyond the break of the Beaufort 

 Sea Shelf. Figure 5 shows the ice distribution as it was found at the time 

 stations were occupied. Figures 6a and 6b show temperatures in the 



11 



