Vol. 4] 



Holway.—Cold Water Belt. 



271 



the temperatures ran from 47° to 52° in the vicinity of Coos 

 Bay from September 10 to 12, 1889, while on the 11th a little 

 further off shore there is a short line running from 57° to 59°. 

 Notice also that on the same day within 10 miles on the north 

 and on the south, there are lines with temperatures varying 

 from 50° to 54° ; that is, of the three short lines at right angles 

 to the coast just south of Coos Bay, the middle line averages 

 about 6° warmer than the other lines. Over the Heceta Bank, 

 it will be noticed that temperatures of from 60° to 63° occur, 

 while close inshore a temperature of 49° occurs only ten days 

 later. The ten clays' difference in time can cause no appre- 

 ciable seasonal change in temperature and the variation from 

 63° to 49° very probably was true for the same day. The lines 

 of temperature for August 30 and 31 are typical in showing the 

 colder water inshore, the exceptions to this rule being few and 

 with slight differences in temperature. No exception has been 

 found with east or west lines of 50 to 200 miles in length and 

 which run close inshore. 



INSHORE BELT OF COLD WATER, 



This general idea of a cold inshore belt has long been recog- 

 nized. Kichter* discussed the Tuscarora temperatures and 

 called attention to the belt of cold coast water which they indi- 

 cate. Apparently without other observations he accounted for 

 the presence of this cold water by assuming the existence of a 

 cold surface current from the Arctic. Part of Richter's argu- 

 ment is based on the strange error that "the western coast of 

 the United States trends northeastward from Cape Mendocino 

 to Tatoosh Island," when in fact Tatoosh Island is slightly ivest 

 of north from Cape Mendocino. As already stated, a study of 

 the temperature relations found in PL 31 renders highly im- 

 probable this idea of a cold polar surface current. Before dis- 

 cussing the hypothesis advanced in the present paper to account 

 for the cold inshore belt, the temperatures for greater areas of 

 the North Pacific should be examined. The temperature charts 



* Kichter, C. M. Ocean Currents Contiguous to the Coast of California. 

 Bull. Cal. Acad. Sci., vol. 2, p. 337. 



