with the bathythermograph observations, sea surface temper- 

 atures were taken by means of buckets and injection thermome- 

 ters. In addition, hourly records were made of the water tem- 

 perature of the ship's sea water intake to the condenser. Al- 

 though the intake for the sea water was located a few feet 

 below the sea surface these temperatures were treated as 

 surface temperatures because there were virtually no tem- 

 perature gradients in the first few feet below the surface. 

 No bathythermograph lowerings had been made in this 

 region previously, but the general water characteristics had 

 been investigated, principally by means of reversing ther- 

 mometers and Nansen bottles. The bathythermograph and the 

 sea surface temperature observations were made to try to 

 ascertain the detailed thermal structure of the region. A 

 knowledge of the detailed thermal structure is useful for the 

 efficient operation of ships and equipment as well as for 

 numerous oceanographic studies. A few such studies from 

 antarctic bathythermograms are discussed in this report; 

 they include the succeeding sections: "Sea Surface Temper- 

 atures," "Antarctic Convergence," "Depth of the Surface 

 Layer as an Indication of Currents," and "internal Waves." 



Vertical Temperature Structure . Over much of the world's 

 ocean area the major portion of the temperature change with 

 depth is found in a thin surface layer. The 450-foot or 900-foot 

 bathythermographs usually reach through this layer; hence 

 many of the major features of the temperature structure can 

 be obtained from bathythermograph observations. 



