Table 2-3. Summary of differential oil/water velocity measurements 



Date Wind Differential velocity 



Time Speed Dir. Speed Direction Measured 



(kt) (°) % wind relative to wind by 



12/19/76 10 250 1.1 0° Gait 



1100 Mattson 



12/19/76 16 243 0.7* 0° Chan 



1200 Grose 



12/20/76 17 015 1.1 30"** Kennedy 

 1200 



12/22/76 30 275 0.8 0° Chan 



* Large uncertainties because of large oblique angles. 

 ** 0" Relative to waves. 



R. Wright, NMFS, analyzed the water temperatures acquired during the 

 second Delawar'e II cruise and found them very similar to the average values 

 shown by Colton and Stoddard (1972, charts 1940 to 1959). Temperatures were 

 nearly isothermal, surface to bottom, except in the deeper stations along the 

 southern edge of Georges Bank. Bottom values were usually a few tenths of a 

 degree warmer than those at the surface. The coldest values (less than 5°C) 

 were in water close to shore, with temperatures as low as 2°C at the two 

 shallowest positions south of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Over Georges 

 Bank the range was 5 to 6°C, with water warmer than 6°C in the vicinity 

 of Great South Channel and the extreme southern edge of the Bank. Subsur- 

 face values warmer than 10°C, indicative of Slope water, were found at Sta- 

 tions 21 and 23 in deeper water south of the Bank. Otherwise the tempera- 

 tures were all typical of the shelf water of the region in January. An 

 analysis of the stations from the Oceanus cruises in December shows identical 

 results to those obtained from the Delaware II data. The surface isotherms 

 indicated on the oil slick maps in Appendix IV also support these conclusions. 



Seven XBTs were also taken from the USCGC Dallas on December 30 in a 

 line 135 miles long oriented 70° 100 miles to the south, east of the Argo 

 Merchant. Figure 2-6 shows this temperature depth section, which indicates a 

 warm core eddy 100 miles south-southeast of the site of the wreck. 



2.2.6 Meteorological Observations and Forecasts 



Both routine and special surface meteorological data were collected at 

 the site of the Argo Merchant and in the surrounding area by USCG, and by FAA 

 at Nantucket Island. In addition to its normal marine forecasts, the Na- 

 tional Weather Services in the Boston area supplied special forecasts for the 

 wreck site. 



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