88 INTERNATIONAL ICE OBSERVATION AND ICE PATROL SERVICE. 



normal for bank water unless there has been an intrusion of higher 

 salinity. There are two sources from which such may come, Gulf 

 Strearn or Labrador Current, but the low temperatures at once pre- 

 clude the presence of the former. 



Temperature. — Warm water > 10° 0. lies in a surface layer at the 

 offshore stations. Between stations 191 and 192 there is a marked 

 transition from warm tropical water to cold polar water. The 

 striking feature as shown by the temperature prolile is the polar 

 water which lies in rounded form over the steeper part of the slope, 

 as shown by the shaded area. This is pure Labrador Current with a 

 salinity of 33.00 7oo to 34.00 7oo an<i a temperature —1.1° C. to 0.5° C. 

 Similar to prolile No. 6, the thin bottom layer of negative tempera- 

 ture over the bank denotes an admixture of polar with normal bank 

 water. Examination of the surface temperature chart "K" shows 

 no Labrador Current extending in on the bank so far as station 194, 

 which is further proof that the intrusion of polar water is. confined 

 to the bottom on the bank. 



Summing up: The close agreement between the isohalines and 

 isotherms, and the clear-cut definition of the boundaries of the dif- 

 ferent kinds of water, all hulicate that the oceanic circulation in the 

 vicinity is strong and of large volume. Conditions then are what has 

 come to be considered normal for the spring of the year, when ice 

 drifts southward in the vicinity of the Grand Banks of Newfound- 

 land. The Gulf Stream is shown flooding the outer stations; the 

 coastal and bank water lies on the surface over the bank; and the 

 Labrador Current with negative temperature flows around the slope 

 and seeps in over the bank on the bottom. A comparison of Profiles 

 5, 6, and 7 graphically shows how the position of the trunk of the 

 Labrador Current conforms to the contour of the slope of the bank 

 and flows around and not across it in a southwesterly stream. 



PROFILE NO. 8. STATIONS 195-201. 



The section runs from station "C to the eastward into deep water. 

 The stations were occupied May 3-5. 



Salinity. — At the outer end of the profile, stations 195 and 19(5, 

 there is a surface layer of water Salter than 35.00 "/oo, about 150 

 meters thick, evidently Gulf Stream. At the inner end, in on the 

 bank, on the other hand, the whole column is fresher than 32.00 "/oo- 

 The curves for 34.00 7oo and 34.50 7oo suggest an oflshore expansion 

 of the slope water. The intermediate stations present a complexity 

 which is not easy to interpret, indicating a mixing and interdigitation 

 of the three kinds of water— Atlantic, polar, and bank. 



Ttmperatwe. — At the offshore stations, corresponding to the high 

 salinities shown above, we find a surface layer of warm water > 10° C. ; 

 in on the bank a cold bottom layer 30 metei-s in thickness, with the 

 only negative temperature of the profile. The water of the slope 

 stations has certain j)()hir characteristics, but the minimum tempera- 

 ture of 1.3° C. appears too high for pure polar origin. It may have 

 been warmed enough by interdigitation with the Gulf Stream to lose 

 its normal negative temperature, a possibility corroborated by the 

 salinities of 34.00 7oo to 34.50 7oo. 



The surface temperature chart shows a very narrow belt of water, 

 0.5° C, lying just inshore of station 200. This area has been in- 



