The depth of the thermocline decreases from west to 

 east, with the greatest gradients in the thermocline occurring 

 at the central station. The vertical temperature gradients 

 below the thermocline are small. The vertical salinity gradi- 

 ents increase from west to east. The layer of maximum 

 vertical salinity gradient occurs just below the thermocline 

 in figure 29 C (station N32). 



The temperature-salinity diagrams for this area are 

 shown in figure 30. The stations on the western and middle 

 portions of the section show the same T-S characteristics 

 shown by the stations in the central Bering Sea (stations N28 

 to N30). However, station N32, on the far eastern side of the 

 strait, shows water of different character. This water is 

 warmer and less saline with a considerable salinity gradient. 

 Station N31 is apparently a mixture of the western and eastern 

 waters in the strait. As will be seen later, the T-S relation at 

 station N32 is very similar to that of the Alaskan coastal 

 stations N33, N34, and N35 extending into Norton Sound, and 

 to stations N26 and N27 in the Chukchi Sea, northeast of 

 Bering Strait. 



Figure 28. Vertical salinity section D in parts per thousand (°/uu) across the eastern side of Bering Strait 

 (see fig. 13 for location of section). 



