3-32 



By August, conditions had changed dramatically. The edge of 

 Long Island Sound at Station 20 was essentially isothermal, ranging from 

 21.2 to 22.0 C. Likewise, the entire harbor showed essentially no stra- 

 tification, nor was there much variation between flood tide and ebb 

 tide. This uniformity is also evident in the temperature contour maps. 

 September conditions showed almost identical patterns , but temperatures 

 were already starting to drop slightly with the passage of siimmer. With 

 increased storm activity and runoff in the fall, October temperatures 

 dropped sharply to 14.5 C in the Sound and outer harbor and 13.0 to 13.5 C 

 near the head of the estuary. Conditions were quite uniform from sta- 

 tion to station, with very little difference between tidal phases. 



Tempevature-Salinitij : Patterns of Density Changes During the Sample Year 



The inner harbor waters, as typified by the data collected at . 

 Station 3, showed a sharp contrast between near-surface and near-bottom - 

 waters for both flood tide and ebb tide (Figure 3-8) . Near-bottom 

 waters cooled rapidly throughout the winter, starting in November and 

 reaching minimum values in February. A slight January thaw was 

 reflected as an ebb tide freshening. In March and April, salinities 

 declined and temperatures increased sharply. Through July, temperatures 

 continued to rise as salinities increased at the surface and were stable 

 near bottom. In July and August, both the highest temperatures and the 

 highest salinities were observed. Through the fall, temperatures 

 dropped rapidly and salinities decreased slightly. This pattern for 

 near-bottom waters is remarkably consistent for both tidal phases, but 

 ebb-tidal conditions were sometimes 5 ppt fresher than flood-tidal 

 conditions (Figure 3-8) . 



Near-surface waters overall had much lower salinities and 

 slightly higher temperatures than near-bottom waters, but the annual 



