SHORT PAPERS AND NOTES 13

aretoo numerous to name in thisshort Six oceanographicstations were occupied: report. one in central Baffin Bay; a second in eastern Albert H. Jackman Baffin Bay southeast of the first; and a cross- Department of Geography section of 4 stations in southern Davis Strait Western Michigan University (Fig. 1). Kalamazoo, U.S.A.

REFERENCES 'Gruening, E. 1953. Alaska: progress and problems. The Scientific Monthly, July: 3-12. 'Rogers, G. W. 1971. Wilderness and devel- opment. In: G. S. Harrison, editor. Public Policy: Current Problems and Issues. Institute of Social,Economic, and Gov- ernment Research, University of Alaska, pp. 223-32. "err, P. B. 1960. The regionalimpact of highways. Urban Land, 19(2): 3-8. 4Bucksar, R. G. 1970. The squatter on the resources frontier. Arctic, 23(3): 202-04. *iLotz, J. R. The squatters of Whitehorse: a study of theproblems ofnew northern settlements. Arctic, 18(3): 173-88. FHill, R. M. 1972. The Dempster Highway -benefits tothe Arctic. Unpublished paper presented toNorthern Resources Conferences, Whitehorse, Y.T., April 5-7, 1972. 'Woodward, H. W. 1970. Northern road FIG. 1. Geographical locations of oceanographic program.Arctic Transport, Proceedings stations occupied in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait during February 1972 andlocations of the of the Arctic Transportation Conference, stations usedin thetext for purposes of Yellowknife, N.W.T., December 8 and 9, comparison. 1970, 2: 151-79. "Territorial Lands Act: Territorial Land Use The temperature and salinity data were Regulations, P.C. 1971-2287, 2 November obtained using discrete samples from Knud- 1971. Canada Gazette Part 11, Vol. 105, sen bottles, equipped with deep-sea reversing NO. 22,24/11/71, SOR/DORS/71-580. thermometers, andan in situ recording "otspeich, F. B. 1971. Environmental guide- salinity/temperature/depth unit (STD). Tem- lines forroad construction in Alaska. peratures and salinities determined from the EnvironmentalProtection AgencyAlaska discrete water samples were used to calibrate Water Laboratory, College, Alaska, Report theSTD andcorrect it for drift, while the 1610 GO1 09/71. 127 pp. STD was used to detect fine structure in the NO. vertical distributions of temperatureand salinity. Salinities are felt to be accurate to ? 0.05%,, the advertised accuracy of the Physical Oceanographic STD unit, except in the 0-200 m. deep layer Observations in Baffin Bay at station 1; presence of ice within the Knudsen bottles during decanting of salinity and Davis Strait * samples, coupled with malfunctioning of the STD, created errors leading to a salinity INTRODUCTION accuracy of only about & 0.3X0 in that case. DuringFebruary 1972, scientific personnel Irregularities in the verticaldistribution of operating from the Lowis S. St. Laurent ob- salinity between 0 and 200 m.depths at tained the first winter oceanographictem- station 1 (Fig. 2) may therefore not be real. perature and salinity data from Baffin Bayl. The temperatures presented below (Figs. -~ 2 and 3) were thoseobtained from the "Contribution No. 170 of The Institute of reversing thermometers. They are considered Marine Science, Universityof Alaska. accurate to ? 0.02"C. 74 SHORT PAPERS AND NOTES

Inasmuch asdata obtainedduring Feb- surface cooling. Salinities within the 0 to ruary 1972 werehardly adequate in them- 100 m. deep layerwere higher at station 1 selves for deductions concerning the ocean- (> 33.5%,) thanat the 2 observed summer ography of the Baffin Bay region,they are stations (< 31%). This salinity difference can presented here in comparison with summer be accounted for approximately by the data from the sameregion (Figs. 1 to 3). presence, in this layer, of salt excluded from newly formed sea ice. Onemetre of ice, a slb Y) 3/ y 3p it 38 reasonable thickness on the basis of ship- -2 -I 0 I 0 3 1% boardobservations made during February 1972, havinga salinity of 5Z0 would have excluded adequatesalt intothe underlying water to account forthe observed salinity difference. The 0 to 100 m. deep layer at station 2 was characterized by a vertical temperature and salinity structuresimilar to that at sta- tion 1, reflecting the effects of the same cooling and freezing processes that had modified that layer at station 1. No summer stations were available from the immediate area of station 2 for comparison,but the high subsurface (below 100 m.) temperatures and salinities observed at station 2 compared

amla I; 2-12-72 with those at station 1 may be accounted for

C-L' SI LIUnCNr qualitatively by the closer proximity of sta- s1.110. 2: 2-14-72 tion 2 to the source of the warm (> 0°C.) *I-colsro 8I.llon loo: I-KW higher salinity water, namely,Davis Strait (see below). While it is impossible to form a firm con- clusion on the basis of the twooceanographic stations occupied during February 1972, the FIG. 2. Verticalprofiles of temperature and above comparison suggests that the tempera- salinity at: February 1972 oceanographic sta- tureand salinity structures in central and tions 1 and 2 in central and eastern B& Bay; and 2 stationsoccupied in central BallinBay southeastern Baffin Bay, below the near- during previous summers. surface convective layer,undergo no sig- nificant seasonal variations.

BAFFIN BAY SOUTHERN DAVIS STRAIT The vertical distribution of temperature The oceanographic cross-section occupied below the near surface (0 to 30 m.) layer at during February 1972 lies nearly coincident station 1 was similar to that observed at the with sections occupied during winter 1962 2 indicated summerstations in thesame andsummer 1965 (Figs. 1 and 3), andmay region. The vertical distribution of salinity be compared with those sections. While there below a 0 to 100 m. deep near-surface layer were some differences inthe details of the was similar atall 3stations during both vertical temperatureand salinity structures winter and summer. Differences in observed for the 3 times of occupation of the section, maximum temperature at the 400 to 500 m. the gross structures remained unchanged. deep warm core, differences in thickness of The vertical temperature distribution was the AtlanticWater layer as defined by the characterized by a warm (5" to 6°C.) 300 to 0°C. isotherm, and differences in salinity at 500 m. deep core. The 0 to 100 m.deep the warm core each fall within the ranges of near-surface layer exhibited lowertempera- year-to-year summer variations detected far- tures (0 to < - 1°C.) during the winters than ther northa. These differences therefore fall duringSeptember 1965 (3" to 5"C.), which within the normal variations encountered in may be qualitativelyaccounted for by the the region and are felt to be insignificant effects of winter cooling. Occurrence of near- within the context of possible seasonal surface temperatures lower during February variations. 1972 than during March 1962 may have been Near-surfacetemperatures in February aconsequence of the unusual harshness of 1972 were lower ("13°C.) than thoseob- the winter of 19721, which would have been served atthe summerstations ("1 to expected to result in more intense surface > OOC.), which may be attributed to winter cooling leading to lower water temperatures. SHORT PAPERS ANDNOTES 75

:vv. .I /...... :/ ....

10-14 MorCh 1962 €RIM4 04N

TEMPERATURE (TI: contour interml = 1°C

' MOf ...... "7 ......

SALINITY (o/m)); contour interval = 0.2%

Verticaldistribution of temperatureand salinity in southern Davis Strait during winter 1972, winter 1962 and summer 1965.

The vertical distribution of salinity was mixture of freshwater from terrestrial characterized by a constant salinity increase sources. from the surface downwards, with maximum It has long been recognized3 that the West salinities higher than 34.8%0 having been Greenland Current is responsible for north- observed near the bottom.Near-surface (0 ward advection of the warm (> 0°C.) sub- to 100 m.) salinities were lower during Sep- surface water layer into BaffinBay (Fig. 1). tember 1965 (32.4 to 33.8%,) than during This Current was bracketed by the southern the 2 winter occupations, with lower salinities Davis Strait cross-sections. The northward having been observed during February 1972 flow across the section is indicated by the (33.6 to 33.8%,) than during March 1962 slopes of the isohalines, which approximate (34.0 to 34.4%,). The vertical homogeneity the isopycnals at the observed low water of the near-surfacelayer observed during temperatures.Maximum northward current February 1972 was consequent to vertical speeds are seen to have been occurring on convective mixing dueto cooling; its the eastern shelf regions, with possible presence, ascompared to lack of sucha southerly flow occurringin the western layerduring March 1962, mayhave been portions of the sections. The northward flow due to the unusual severity of the winter of appeared to be less concentratedareally 1972 and would thus havecorrelated with during February 1972 than duringMarch the relatively low near-surfacewater tem- 1962 or September 1965, but overall magni- peratures observed atthat time. Low near- tude of thenortherly flow appeared to be surface salinities (< 32.4%,) in the eastern invariantduring the 3 occupations of the portion of the section duringSeptember section. No attempt was made to compute 1965 were probablya consequence of ad- the geostrophic transport throughthe sec- 76 SHORT PAPERS AND NOTES

tion, since variationsin the dynamic height SKiilerich, A. B. 1939. The Godthaab EX- were of the same order of magnitude as er- pedition 1928, atheoretical treatment of rors in their determination and it was, more- the hydrographicalobservation material. over, impossible toobtain a consistent Meddelelser om GrZnland, 78(5): 1-148. reference level for dynamic computations. 4Dunbar, M. 1971. Winter ice reconnaissance in Nares Strait, 1970-71. DREO Technical CONCLUSIONS Note No. 71-34,29 pp. While it is not possible to draw quantita- tive conclusions fromthe small amount of availableinformation, itappears thatthe deep vertical distributions of temperature and On the Oceanography of salinity incentral and southeastern Baffin Makinson Inlet Bay and Davis Strait may not undergo sig- nificant seasonalvariation. Observed near- On completion of observationsin Nares surfacevariations maybe accounted for Strait from the CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent qualitatively by combinationa of winter during August 1971, the opportunityarose cooling, freezing and convective mixing and to make a quick reconnaissance in Makinson summer meltwater addition. Inlet. This inlet, which provides a sea-level The apparent constancy of flow through passage from the North Water area through DavisStrait is of particular interest. It has the coast range of eastern Ellesmere Island, been demonstrated2 thatfor sufficient heat has recently been the object of some interest to be present in the water column for preven- because of possible commercial and strategic tion of ice formation in the open lead in developments. However, nothing was known northern BaffinBay known as theNorth of its bathymetry or oceanography except for Water,northerly flowof warmwater a line of soundings run by CCGS Labrador (> 0°C.) would have to be greater than ob- in 1966. Since all of the oceanographic party served during the summer months. That this with the exception of the author had already does notappear to be the case strengthens left the ship, the investigation could only be the hypothesis, most -recently advanced by superficial, but with the assistance of Dr. Dunbar4, thatthe openwater is dueto a Fritz Muller,and Mr. Kende la Barre of southward advection of ice by winds and the Institute, a few preliminary observations currents rather than by heat from the water were made. column preventing formation of the ice. The shipentered the inlet (see Fig. 1) at 0800 localtime on 2 September 1971 after ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS working through a belt of loose polar pack Acknowledgement is given to the Canadian about 3 miles wide which laynorth-south Ministry of Transport for making the Coast off the entrance. Within the inlet only small, Guard Ship Louis S. St. Laurent available scattered floes were seen, due possibly to the tothe Arctic Institute’s Baffin Bay-North strong westerly winds which continued the Water Project for the winter cruise.Direct whole time the ship was in the area. On the support was provided by the Defence Re- way upthe inlet a line of soundings was searchEstablishment Ottawa; theDefence maintained and a series of shoreline photo- Research Board of Canada undercontract graphs was taken. The shipreached Swin- 02 GR-7090021; andthe US. National nertonPoint, where the inlet divides into 2 Science Foundation undercontract NSF arms,at about 1100 localtime but no in- C-653. vestigation of the arms was made since the Robin D.Muench survey barge was not available. On the way Institute of Marine Science down the inlet, 4 oceanographic stations were University of Alaska occupied andKnudsen bottle samples were H. E. Sadler taken for temperature, salinity and dissolved Defence Research Establishment oxygen content. Bathythermograph slides Ottawa were also obtained. Since there is no sill in the main section of REFERENCES the inlet the classic fiord structurecannot LSater, J. E. 1972. A winter scientific recon- develop andthe results obtainedindicate naissance of theNorth Water. Arctic, that the inlet, from the fork seaward, is from 25(2): 151-52. theoceanographic point of view merely a ‘Muench, R.D. 1971. The physical ocean- section of northern Baffin Bay. The T-S ography of the northern Baffin Bay region. curves in Fig. 2 show that there are two main The Bafin Bay - North Water Scientific layers, one below 300 m. and a second be- Report No. 1.150 pp. tween 100 and 200 m. Theselayers match