56 



MARION AND GENERAL GREENE EXPEDITIONS 



ATLANTIC WATER— CAPE FAREWELL 

 (Average maximum summer temperature, 5.85°; average depth, 130 meters) 



ATLANTIC WATER— IVIGTUT 

 (Average maximum summer temperature 5.70°; average depth, 135 meters) 



June 1925 



July 1931 



July 1933 



August 1928.. 

 October 1928. 



Dana 



General Greene. 



do 



Marion . 



Godthaab 



4.03 

 5.53 

 6.39 

 6.00 

 7.58 



The tables show that the Atlantic water, both in temperature and 

 salinity, remains more constant, summer to summer, than does the 

 temperature and salinity of the Arctic water. This fact was also 

 noted by Bohencke (1931) for the same latitudes off the east coast 

 of Greenland. The constancy of the maximum salinity of the At- 

 lantic water off the southwest slope of Greenland was remarkable, 

 it varying only 0.03%o for the three summers, viz. 1928, 35.10%o; 

 1931, 35.07%o; and 1934, 35.07%o. The saltest water reported from 

 the west Greenland section by the Godthaah in 1928 was 35.07%o. 



That variations occur, however, in the average minimum and the 

 average maximum temperatures of the West Greenland Current and 

 also in its volume has been demonstrated. Helland -Hansen (1934) 

 has found that similar important variations take place in the dis- 

 charge of the Atlantic Current along the Norwegian coast and also 

 that they correlate with certain climatic variations in Scandinavia 

 as well as with the area of pack ice in the Barents Sea. 



In the case of the West Greenland Current, which is composed of 

 both Arctic and Atlantic water, it is more instructive to include con- 

 sideration of its average temperature and its rate of heat transfer 

 than simply to compare volumes alone or to compare a series of 

 isolated observations. We have, therefore, expanded the table on 

 page 54 in accordance with the method described in chapter II. The 

 average temperature and the rate of heat transfer of the slope band 

 of the West Greenland Current, expressed in million cubic meter 

 degrees centigrade per second, varied as follows : 



CAPE FAREWELL SECTION 



Date 



Volume of flow 



Average 

 tempera- 

 ture (°C.) 



Rate of 



heat 

 transfer 



May 28-30, 1928 

 Sept. 2-3, 1928.. 

 Aug. 1-2, 1931,. 

 July 8-9, 1933... 

 July 13-14, 1934. 

 Mar. 8, 1935.... 

 Aug. 1&-20, 1935 



4.0ms/sec.X10« 

 3.2mVsec.X106 

 3.7mVsec.X10« 

 5.8mVsec.X10e 

 3.7 mVsec.XlOs 

 7.5mVsec.X10« 

 8.5m3/sec.X10« 



4.1 



5.5 

 5.3 

 4.2 

 5.1 

 4.0 

 5.0 



16.4 

 17.5 

 19.6 

 24.4 

 18,9 

 30.0 

 42.5 



