Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, and an eastern and usually major 

 branch which flows southward along the eastern slope of the Grand Banks. 

 Bergs carried southward in the western branch usually do not get very 

 far south of Cape Race and thus endanger only track F, but l)ergs follow- 

 ing the eastern branch may threaten the safety of traffic following all 

 tracks. The division of bergs between these two branches, then, has an 

 important bearing on the degree of potential danger represented by any 

 given number of bergs approaching this region from the north. It would 

 seem, therefore, that a study of the characteristics of the Labrador Cur- 

 rent in the vicinity of the branch point gives promise of information which 

 will help us to understand the movements of ice in the critical area and 

 may lead to methods of medium and short range forecasting of the ice 

 hazard to each of the tracks. 



In 1948 a beginning was made in the study of conditions in the vicinity 

 of this branch point. Three sections forming the sides of a triangle, in- 

 tended to include the branch point, were occupied on the post-season 

 cruise. The northern side included the sum of both branches, the south- 

 western side included the western branch and the southeastern side the 

 eastern branch. Figures 27 and 28 show the resulting dynamic topog- 

 raph}^ of the sea-surface and the 100-decibar surface respectively, relative 



FiGUiiE 27. — Dynamic topography of the sea surface relative to the 1 ,000-decil)ar 

 surface, from data collected 6-10 July 1948. 



79 



