BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WOODS HOLE AND VICINITY. 

 Table io. — Water Temperature at Noon, Woods Hole Station. 



47 



o Based doubtless upon an inexact observation, since this temperature is below the freezing point of sea water. 



Curves showing seasonal variations in the air and water temperatures at the Woods 

 Hole station for five years are presented on chart 219. These cur\'es are based upon 

 the noon temperatures contained in the station records from 1902 to 1906, inclusive.* 

 The ordinate for each day is the mean of the five years' figures for that day. Such 

 curves do not, of course, exhibit the extreme conditions, since maximum and minimum 

 figures are neutralized in the process of averaging. The water temperatures are natur- 

 ally those which chiefly concern us at present. It will be seen that the highest point in 

 the curve showing these is at August 12, where the mean temperature is slightly over 71°. 

 Reference to table 10 shows that the maximum temperature for August (and for the year) 

 recorded during these five years is 74.5°. The lowest point in the cur^-e is on February 

 19, where a mean temperature of 30° is almost reached. The minimum for the entire 



l> Cf. Edwards in First Report U. S. Fish Commission, with which these figures agree fairly closely. 



