112 



rent. Sixty miles from the continental edge we suddenh- entered 

 much more saline water >3o Voo> the northern outline of this body 

 of water, as shown in profile, being a vertical face extending down- 

 ward to a depth of 750 meters (410 fathoms). At the outer station, 

 255, water >36''/oo was encountered in the upper 150 meters (82 

 fathoms), a salinity which, in this region, unmistakably marks the 

 water in question as Gulf Stream in origin. 



Teynperature. — Warm water > 10°, corresponding in its general 

 bounds to the most saline water mentioned above, extended from 

 the surface downward to a depth of 700 meters (383 fathoms), at 

 the outer end of the section, 80 miles seaward from the slope. Water 

 colder than 0° bathed the slope, while in over the Bank the tempera- 

 ture was slightly higher. The temperatures found on the slope, 

 — 1.2° to —0.35°, could not have been attained locally, as the average 

 minimum winter temperature of the water on the Grand Bank is 

 about 0°, and by April this temperature has already begun to rise. 

 Subsurface minimum temperatures at the 50-meter (27 fathoms) 

 depth at the slope stations, together with the salinities of 337oo to 

 347ooj ^11 support the conclusion that this water must have a noi thern 

 origin. Bergs drifting southward in this region (see iceberg chart 

 ''B'') are additional proof that the Labrador Current was present on 

 the east slope of the Grand Bank and offshore to a distance of 68 

 miles on the surface. The lower salinity and higher temperature of 

 the inshore station precludes the possibility of Labrador Current in 

 any quantity having been projected in on the Bank. The profile 

 also indicates, through its Avide range of salinity and temperature, a 

 more active state of circulation than at the same time of year for 

 1922, with greater volumes both of Arctic and Gulf Stream water 

 west and southwest of the Tail at this period. 



PROFILE NO. 3— STATIONS 259-264. 



This section, starting in on the Tail of the Bank, runs southerly 

 with its offshore end crosscutting the Gulf Stream. The stations 

 were occupied April 14-15, contemporary with the southwest and 

 west sections. (See profiles No. 2 and No. 3a.) 



Salinity. — Water salter than 35*'/o„ lay offshore at stations 263 and 

 264. Water between 33.57oo and 34.57'„o bathed the slope at the 

 midstations and crept inshore on the bottom of the Bank. The 

 freshest water found lay on the surface in over the Bank. The bottom 

 cover of 33.24"/oo-33.46%o is Salter than had been found on the Bank 

 to the westward a few days earlier (see profile No. 2) and is salter than 

 is usually the case over the Banks in this region, plainly indicating 

 that a flooding from offshore had occurred. 



Temperature. — A column of warm water >10°, which occupied the 

 outer stations, 263 and 264, is so warm and saline that it must be 



