EXPLANATION OF OCEAN TEMPERATURE CHART No. 16. 



BEENTON'S REEF LIGHT-SHIP, RHODE ISLAND. 

 Olscrver : Charles D. Marsh. 



Location of station.— This liglit-ship is located in the middle of the entrance to Karragansett Bay, ahout IJ miles 

 SW. of the southern point of the Island of Rhode Island, and a little over a mile off Brenton's Reef, the depths 

 between ranging, from 4i to 14 J fathoms. It is 17|- miles NE. f N. of Block Island southeast light, and faces the 

 open sea to the south, the depths increasing gradually seaward. The 20-fathom curve is distant about 8^ miles : the 

 100-fathom curve, about 85 miles. 



Geographical position. —■La.titu&e, 41° 25' (52") N. ; longitude, 71° 22' (36") W. 



Depth of water. — Fourteen and one-half fathoms. 



Eange of temperature (March 1 to January 1).— Air, 45°. 5 (29° to 740.5); surface, 35<? (34° to 09°). 



The minimum temperatures are higher, the maximum lower at this station than at Block Island. The maximum 

 surface temperatures, however, show a difference of only 1|° for the two stations. It is probable that the surface 

 observations for Brenton's Reef are the more reliable, having been taken where the water is 14^ fathoms deep. 



Table showing the direction of the winds, T>y quadrants, for each month of the year, teing the means of five years' observations. 



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