ALASKA CURRENT 



Surface current data In the Gulf of Alaska are scarce and 

 unevenly distributed; of almost 9^000 observations north of 50°^, 

 about 6,700 are located in regions A, B, and D of Figure 1. 

 Inasmuch as the southern boundary of the Gulf of Alaska is north 

 of 55°^, regions A, B, and D may be considered outside the gulf, 

 and the persistence of the eastward flow through these regions is 

 due mainly to the influence of the Subarctic Current* 



The Alaska Current actually originates from the part of the 

 Subarctic Current that is diverted north in the vicinity of Queen 

 Charlotte Islands, and is a slow, wide, counterclockwise flow 

 along the coast to about 170 *W. The current appears to be somewhat 

 faster in regions G and H (Figure l) than elsewhere. 



Figure 1 and Table 1 indicate the general flows in the gulf; 

 significant frequencies of flow in other directions also are shown 

 In Figure 1. The shaded outlines show that the Alaska Current is 

 weak, with little seasonal change in mean speeds, so that it is 

 easily influenced by strong winds associated with frequent storms 

 through the gulf, particularly from September through May, 



The data in Figure 1 and Table 1 are based on surface ship 

 drift observations and show a very close directional relationship 

 vith the computed surface flow and with the schematic shown in 

 Figure 2, 



