INTERNATIONAL ICE OBSERVATION AND ICE PATROL. SERVICE. 87 



Current at the Tail of the Bank. This polar water is shown by the 

 shaded area of 0° C. water temperature as bathing the slope from sur- 

 face to bottom. The temperature of — 1.2° C. over the outer parts of 

 the slope (1,100-meter contour) was the lowest encountered off the 

 Tail of the Bank during 1922. This is an icy-cold stream which has 

 flowed direct from Arctic regions without losing any of its negative 

 value, and it was this southern propulsion of the Labrador Current 

 which brought the first bergs of the season and caused the constant 

 patrol to be established March 20. 



PROFILE NO. 6. STATIONS 184-188. 



This section runs from station "C" (see chart "A") south into 

 warm water. It was taken April 11-12. 



Salinity. — At the southern end of the section, stations 184 and 186, 

 we found Atlantic water > 35.00 %o. The mid-stations show 

 34.00 7oo to 33.50 7oo water bathing the slope. In on the bank 

 32.47 7oo to 32.70 °/qo water extended from surface to bottom. This 

 is Salter near the bottom than the water found there March 17, being 

 too fresh for polar, and too salt for unadulterated bank water, it is 

 evidently a mixture of the two, hence indicates that there has been 

 an intrusion of the former in over the bottom. 



Temperature. — Warm water, >10° C, is 300 meters thick at the 

 outer station. But the striking feature in this profile is the negative 

 temperature water which has completely flooded the bank slope; this 

 can be nothing else than the Labrador Current. The characteristic 

 fall in temperature to a minimum below the surface at station 189 is 

 an undeniable sign of water that has drifted from Arctic regions. 

 This is further substantiated by the salinities on the slope and by the 

 chilling of the bank water. 



To sum up: Februarv 20 we determined the southern end of the 

 Labrador Current to be'^43° 15' N., 49° 40' W. March 20, bergs were 

 observed drifting southward around the Tail of the Bank, showing 

 clearly that a great and sudden augmentation to the Labrador Current 

 took place sometime between these dates. April 11-12 we found the 

 Labrador Current at the Tail of the Bank in large volume, extending 

 downward 450 meters (250 fathoms) on the steepest part of the slope, 

 south as far as 42° 25' N., and west, as shown on surface temperature 

 chart ''J," to the 51st meridian. The water at station 188 is not 

 pure Labrador Current but a mixture of bank and polar water, 

 which indicates that there is a tendency upon the part of the Labrador 

 Current to encroach to the westward, especially in over the bottom 

 of the bank. 



PROFILE NO. 7. STATIONS 190 TO 194. 



This section runs southwesterly from station '^C" (see chart "A"). 

 It was occupied April 25-26. 



Salinity. — Atlantic water lies on the surface at the outer stations 

 to a depth of 450 meters. A surface film of fresher waiter, 15 meters 

 in thickness, spreads southward over the Atlantic water. The 

 freshest water so far encountered, 31.85 7oo; lies at the surface on the 

 bank and extends southward. A pool of 32.77 7oo water lies on the 

 surface at station 192. The bottom layer on the bank is Salter than 



