SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS 



1. In the southeastern Bering Sea, a sharp tem- 

 perature minimum exists at depths between 100 and 

 150 meters. This minimum is the result of local winter 

 cooling and convection reinforced by a sluggish 

 arcuate southeasterly flow of cold winter water across 

 the Bering Sea from the Siberian coastal areas. It 

 probably exists throughout the deep Bering Sea in 

 summer. 



2. The water below 400 meters is a horizontally 

 uniform Pacific Subarctic water mass. 



3. The surface circulation is generally counter- 

 clockwise in the area surveyed, with maximum surface 

 currents of about 0.3 knot. 



4. Some doubt arises as to whether the gen- 

 erally accepted theory of northeasterly surface cur- 

 rent from between the Komandorski and Near Islands 

 across the Bering Sea towards St. Matthew Islands 

 is correct. Future observations in the central and 

 northwest deep Bering Sea are desirable in order to 

 resolve this problem. 



5. Surface sonar ranges in the deep Bering Sea 

 during summer would be long except where limited 

 by high sea state. 



6. A well-developed deep sound channel exists 

 in the deep Bering Sea during summer, its axis being 

 at depths of about 150 meters. It is unusual because 

 the axis occurs at this shallow depth, the channel is 

 not bottom-limited, and an appreciable horizontal 

 gradient of sound velocity occurs along the axis. 



7. The deep sound channel in the Bering Sea 

 would be favorable for research investigations con- 

 cerning horizontal refraction of Sofar signals and 

 their propagation over ridges and from deep into 

 shallow water. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 



1. Undertake a program of observation for the 

 central and northwest Bering Sea to determine posi- 

 tively the structure and circulation in those regions. 



2. Utilize the Bering Sea as a location for re- 

 search investigations involving the horizontal refrac- 

 tion of low-frequency signals and their propagation 

 over ridges and from deep into shallow water. 



