II. ROSS SEA - MCMURDO SOUND AREA, OCEANOGRAPHY 



A. General 



The Ross Sea lies south of the Pacific Ocean between ^O^E and 150«W. 

 It is a large open body of vater with depths generally less than UOO 

 fathoms and with free circulation to the circumpolar ocean waters to the 

 north. To the south, the sea is bounded by the floating seaward margin 

 of the Ross Ice Shelf. Many glaciers and small ice shelves extend along 

 its margins, but in spite of this, a relatively large percentage of land 

 is exposed during the summer season. 



McMurdo Sound is located in the southwestern part of the Ross Sea, 

 bounded on the west by the Victoria Range of Antarctica, on the east by 

 Ross Island, and on the south- southeast by the Ross Ice Shelf. The United 

 States Antarctic station, Naval Air Facility McMurdo, is located on the 

 western coast of Cape Armitage at Rut Point, the southernmost point on 

 Ross Island. 



Kainan Bay is a small bay in the Ross Ice Shelf, in the eastern Ross 

 Sea, approximately 400 miles east of Ross Island. Little America V 

 Station (no longer in operation) is located on the Ross Ice Shelf, two 

 to three miles inland of Kainan Bay. 



Sea ice forms in the Ross Sea during the autumn and winter seasons, 

 but usually breaks up sufficiently in late summer to permit ship transit 

 to all corners of the sea. A general east to west set removes much of the 

 ice and bergs, but some are confined in a gyral in the northern portions. 



Three icebreakers operated in the Ross Sea at various times from 

 December 1959 into March i960. During these months, a total of 1*5 

 oceanographic stations was taken. Figure 2 shows by different symbols 

 the tracks and stations occupied by these ships. In addition, the 

 locations of the Antarctic Convergence Zone, as indicated by ATKA BT's 

 are illustrated. 



Serial-depth temperature and salinity observations were made on all 

 oceanographic stations. Determinations for dissolved oxygen were made 

 at only five stations across the eastern Balleny Basin. Data for the 

 eastern Balleny Basin and for McMurdo Sound are presented in Figures 6 

 and 7> respectively. TTo profiles were -prepared for the western Ross Sea 

 and the Ross Ice Shelf areas. 



B. Physical Properties 



1. Eastern Balleny Basin (Figures 2 and 6) 



Five oceanographic stations were taken across the Balleny Basin 

 along 179*E longitude from 13 through 16 January i960. Data were obtained 

 from surface to bottom. Stations 2 and 3 were made in the basin with 



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