88 



MARION AND GENERj^L, GREENE EXPEDITIONS 



The net volume of the Labrador Current southward through section 

 P in consequence was reduced to 0.8 million cubic meters per second. 



JSt. John's. — Section Q (fig. 51) was the tenth and southernmost 

 profile taken by the Marion in the American sector in 1928. The 

 slope band of the Labrador Current at this point had accelerated, 

 deepened, and, with a computed volume of 4.4 million cubic meters 

 per second, resumed its mid-Labrador proportions. The inshore 

 belt of 0.8 million cubic meters per second discharged most of its 

 contents through the gully between the Grand Banks and Cape Race. 



A resume of the discharge of the Labrador Current in 1928 is 

 shown by the following table: 



The above table shows that the net mean discharge of the Labrador 

 Current, not including the apparent deficit in the volume of the cur- 

 rent at sections K and P, during the summer of 1928 was 4.3 million 

 cubic meters per second. 



One of the most interesting features revealed by the velocity pro- 

 files was the division of the Labrador Current generally into a slope 

 band and a shelf band, although such a grouping was less positively 

 suggested by the streamlines on the surface current map. The pro- 

 l^ortions of inner to outer band for the 10 sections, H to Q, was 1 to 

 3 ; or, in other words, approximately 75 percent of the water trans- 

 ported by the Labrador Current was contained in the slope band. 

 Consideration of the proportions of the banding and the previously 

 described proportions of the components (p. 85) indicates that some 

 Arctic Avater is embraced in the slope band. 



A shelf and slope band characteristic of the Labrador Current are 

 underlying features which no doubt exert their influence on the drift 

 of the Arctic ice. The much colder water inshore of the continental 



