III. BELLINGSHAUSEN SEA, OCEANOGRAPHY 



A. General 



Previous to DEEP FREEZE 60, no oeeanographic stations are known to 

 have been taken in the sector of the Bellingshausen Sea off the Eights 

 Coast. Ice conditions permitted penetration into this area by GLACIER 

 and BURTON ISLAND in February i960. Oeeanographic stations were 

 occupied along the coast of Thurston Peninsula and northward to Peter I 

 Island. The locations of these and the ships* tracks are sbovn in 

 Figures k and 5* 



The configuration of the continent along the Palmer Peninsula, and 

 to some extent bottom contours, produce eddies and countercurrents which 

 force water from the East Wind Drift across the Antarctic Divergence into 

 the West Wind Drift forming a clockwise gyral in the Bellingshausen. Sea. 



B. Physical Properties 



The vertical distribution of physical properties is shown by Figures 

 8 and 9. Figure 8 is a cross section of nine stations extending from 

 Cape Flying Fish eastward, closely paralleling the coast to about 97 "W« 

 Depths at the stations varied widely, 165 to 1,000 meters. Figure 9 is 

 a cross section of three stations taken from a point about two miles 

 from the coast to about thirty miles to the north. These varied from 

 300 to 550 meters in depth. 



1. Temperature 



Surface temperatures were low at all stations; values ranged 

 from a high of -1.50"C to a low of -1.75°C, showing no trend or 

 indication of summer warming. In general, temperatures increased from 

 the surface to the -1.50*C isotherm at about 150 meters except where it 

 appears at 50 meters on station 23* Below this, values increased more 

 rapidly, with the 1.00 °C isotherm being observed at k-50 meters, near 

 the maximum depth sampled. At the easternmost stations, an intrusion 

 of colder water at mid-depth was noted from the data. Cells of 

 slightly warmer water also were observed at several stations. 



2. Salinity 



Salinities increased with depth from a surface minimum of 32.95 %» 

 at the northernmost station (Fig. 9) to values of greater than 3^«50 %> 

 below 350 meters. The greatest increase was in the surface layer, the 

 3^.00 %> isohaline being observed at 100 meters or less. This isohaline 

 reached 35 meters on station B129 and approximately 50 meters at B123. 

 Lower salinities at mid-depth on the four easternmost stations also 

 indicated the presence of an intrusion of a different water type. 



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