PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY OF THE ICE PATROL AREA IN 1941 



By Floyd M. Soule and C. A. Barnes^ 



On March 28, the General Greene departed from St. John's, New- 

 foundland, for the purpose of making a current survey of the Grand 

 Banks region. In recognition of the fact that few ships sighting ice 

 would be at liberty to report their observations by radio, and that 

 consequently little was known about the quantity or distribution of 

 ice, it was decided to cover as much as possible of the area sometimes 

 frequented by bergs, beginning at the latitude of Flemish Cap, working 

 southward along the eastern edge of the Grand Banks and continuing 

 into the area south and southwestward of the Banks to such an extent 

 as our supplies of fuel and water would permit. Accordingly, the work 

 of collection of data was begun at station 3345, located at 46°59 ' N., 

 48°39' W.,on March 29. 



On the afternoon of March 31, the oceanographic winch motor over- 

 heated and burned out. After several hours' work, the motor was re- 

 moved and a spare motor installed in its stead. On April 7 about a half 

 day's dela>' resulted from heavy weather in the vicinity of station 3400 

 located at 42°58 ' N., 47°00 ' W. After completing station 3409, located 

 at 41°58 ' N., 49°23 ' W., on April 10, it was necessary to return to St. 

 John's to replenish water, fuel, and supplies. The General Greene arrived 

 at St. John's on the afternoon of April 11 and departed again on the 

 morning of April 14. After leaving St. John's, 20 additional stations, 

 3410 to 3429, disposed in the form of three sections, were occupied 

 on the southwestern slope of the Grand Banks between April 15 and 

 April 18, the last station being located at 41°00 ' N., 50°15 ' W. From 

 this position the General Greene returned to Woods Hole, where she 

 arrived on April 22. 



After a preliminary stud\- of the data collected during the first survey, 

 the General Greene proceeded to St. John's, where water, fuel and sup- 

 plies were replenished. On May 9 departure was taken from St. John's 

 for the purpose of making a second current survey of the Grand Banks 

 region. The results of the first survey, as well as the scarcity of ice 

 reports from other ships, indicated that there was little likelihood of 

 ice soon reaching critical positions of menace to the steamer lanes. A 

 short map extending from the Tail of the Grand Banks to a northern- 

 most position of 46°21 ' N., 49°00 ' W., was therefore decided upon as 

 probably covering the area of greatest interest and still permitting time 

 for a detailed study of conditions in the immediate vicinity of an iceberg 

 should one be found. 



Accordingly the work of collection of data was begun at station 3430, 

 located at 43°14'N., 50°07 ' W., on May 10. Work progressed from 

 south towards north, the last station, number 3481, being completed at 

 46°20' N., 49°00' W., on May 20. The cruise had been characterized 



Contribution No. 500 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 



