Prevailing winds for this period remained conducive to increasing 

 the westward flow of warmer water towards Greenland, reinforcing 

 the West Greenland Current, for tlie development of a shallow counter- 

 clockwise gyre of relatively warm water south of Davis Strait, and of 

 lateral mixing of this gyre with the colder waters of the Labrador 

 Current. 



Tlie resultant effect would greatly hasten deterioration of ice along 

 the Labrador coast and reduce the possibilities of berg survival to- 

 wards the Grand Banks. The passage of these laws also would bring 

 warmer air over Newfoundland-Labrador, inhibiting ice growth. It 

 was noted (record of observations not shown) that pack ice advanced 

 southward to approximately the position of Hopedale, Labrador, com- 

 parable to normal conditions. At this point, deterioration evidently 

 became gi-eater than advance and within the next few hundred miles 

 the pack ice greatly thinned out and remained a relatively narrow 

 ribbon of ice contained along the Labrador coast. Very light pack ice 

 conditions prevailed for the ice season. The relative absence of pack 

 ice meant that bergs had to travel southward in open water with at- 

 tendant greater deterioration. 





SEA LEVEL PRESStJHE 

 MONTKfL* SCAN 



DEC 1965 



Figure 16. — Sea level chart — Monthly mean pressure — December 1965. 



18 



