123 



PROFILE NO. 8— STATIONS 291-295. 



The section, starting on the west side of the Grand Bank, runs 

 420 miles westerly into deep water. The stations were occupied 

 May 2-4. Information was desired concerning the subsequent 

 movement of the large mass of Arctic water which was found in this 

 vicinity April 14-17, when it extended along the slope for a distance 

 of 120 miles northwest from the Tail. 



Salinfiy. — Like the corresponding section in April (profile No. 4), 

 the parallel and nearly horizontal positions of the isohalines denote 

 a uniform state of the water mass this far west of the Tail, excepting 

 in on the slope where the sudden dipping of the isohalines for 34.5 "/oo 

 and 34 "/oq mark an abrupt transition from the salter water offshore 

 to the fresher water of the Bank, In over the Bank we found the 

 freshest water of the section with a saUnity less than 33 **/oo, while 

 Atlantic water salter than 35 "/oo lay in the depths of the outer stations, 

 291 and 292. In none of the subsurface investigations this year, 

 and contrary to the experience of other years, did we note the presence 

 of saline Gulf Stream water intruded northward into the oceanic 

 triangle west of the Tail. 



Temperature. — ^Water colder than 0° lay on the bottom of the Bank 

 and extended 42 miles offshore just below the surface. Except on 

 the slope, the isotherms, like the isohalines, furnish further proof 

 of the freedom of the water west of the Tail from intrusions and 

 disturbed mixings. The similarity between the position of the 

 isohalines and the isotherms is especially well marked in this profile. 

 The general form of the shaded area of frigid water, together ^\^th 

 the position of the 2° isotherm, suggests an offshore spreading in 

 the surface layei-s, but density profiles alone could prove this. A 

 comparison ^vith profile No. 4, taken two weeks earlier, brings out 

 the fact that there was less Arctic water in this vicinity May 2-4 

 than on April 14-17, which points to a decrease, or cessation, in the 

 flow of the extension of the Labrador Current this far northwest of 

 the Tail. The cold water which was transported to this locality 

 earlier in the season had worked inshore over the bottom of the Bank, 

 as shown by the lower temperatures recorded in profile No. 8 than 

 in profile No. 4. At no time in 1922 was the Labrador Current found 

 so far from the Tail on the western slope, while on the other hand 

 the Gulf Stream often flooded the outer stations of the sections 

 along this line in that year. 



