OCEANOGRAPHIC CRUISE, OCTOBER 21-26, 1923. 



Lieut. Edward H. Smith., U. v^. Coast Guard. 



At its twelfth annual meeting, September 28, 1923, the Inter- 

 departmental Board on International Ice Observation and Ice Patrol 

 and Derelict Destruction considered the advisability of having a 

 vessel make a cruise to the Grand Banks during the fall season of 

 1923 for thepurpose of collecting oceanographicdata. It was explained 

 that while an exhaustive study had been made of oceanography and 

 ice conditions in this region during the ice season, March-July, no 

 oceanographic observations had ever been made either by the patrol 

 or by any other expedition during the autumn. 



The first oceanographic observations were made by the ice patrol 

 during the spring and sunmier of 1914, They corroborated previous 

 evidence that the Labrador Current, or one extension of it, flowed 

 southward along the east side of the Grand Bank and to a variable 

 distance around the Tail. But subsequent observations made in 

 February, 1922, brought out the fact that the cold current from the 

 north, heretofore found on the east side of the Grand Bank, was at 

 this time a weak, shallow attenuation which ceased altogether in lat. 

 43° 15',^ and this led to the belief that the ice-laden current is subject 

 to seasonal variations. In view of the foregoing it was pointed out 

 that autumnal records would prove of great value in the study of 

 ice conditions in the North Atlantic Ocean and assist in the con- 

 struction of a picture of seasonal events in the region of the Grand 

 Banks. As a result of such discussion it was decided to send a 

 vessel sometime during the autumn, whose mission would be to 

 locate, if possible, the cold current from the north in the vicinity 

 of the Tail of the Bank at this period of the year, and, furthermore, 

 to determine its exact size, position, and rate of flow. In compliance 

 with orders, the Coast Guard cutter Seneca sailed from Boston at 

 1 p. m., October 17, for the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. 



The program of oceanographic work, similar to that adopted during 

 the last few ice seasons, contemplated the making of vertical sections 

 which would run in four radiating directions from a point in on the 

 south central part of the Bank and at right angles to the slope. 

 Stations were occupied along these radials according to the importance 



' 1922. Smith, Edward U.: "International Ice Observation and Ice Patrol Service," Treasury Bulletin 

 No. 10, p. 94. 



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