DFO Library MPO Bibliotheque ment Peches et Environnement Canada III 11 111 111 1111 11 12023535 CANADA MARINE SCIENCE:5 DIRECT MAT E. MANUSCRIPT REPORT SER IES. MANUSCRIPT REPORT SERIES No. 40 eft tfte executagitaplup jetted, Sound, NiES, F.G. Barber and A. Huyer Marine Sciences Directorate Department of Fisheries and 1977 the Environment, Ottawa Published by Publie par I+ Fisheries and Environment Peches et Environnement Canada Canada Fisheries and Service des peches Marine Service et de la mer Scientific Information Direction de [information and Publications Branch et des publications scientifiques Ottawa Kt A 0E6 Manuscript Report Series No. 40 On the Oceanography of crones Sound, NWT F.G. Barber and A. Huyer 1977 ell Gate Jones Sound C" earrlo wo s4it • y.ancester Sound\ 1 a r•• • YY; Frontispiece. Location of Jones Sound, N.W.T Canada. 3 CONTENTS Page 1. ABSTRACT - RESUME 4 2. INTRODUCTION 5 3. DESCRIPTIVE 7 3.1 Runoff 8 3.2 Ice Conditions in 1963 9 3.3 Data of 1963 11 3.4 Review 14 4. DISCUSSION 24 5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 30 6. REFERENCES 30 7. APPENDIX: AN ATLAS OF THE DATA FOR 1963 35 4 1. ABSTRACT Distributions of salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen in Jones Sound indicate the movement of a surface water from the central archipelago and a deeper water from Baffin Bay. The extent that the region becomes ice- free each year can be reflected in surface distributions and a particular area of open water, the North Water, likely contributes to an annual vari- ation observed at depths below the surface layer. A RESUME Nous decrivons les distributions de la salinite, la temperature et l'oxygene dissous dans le "Jones Sound" et prevoyons l'importance d'un mouvement superficiel de l'archipel central et d'un mouvement plus profond de la baie de Baffin. Les distributions a la couche de surface sont fortement influencees chaque saison par l'etendue de la surface libre et la region de "North Water" bien connue de nous contribue peut etre 'a . la variation annuelle observee. 5 2. INTRODUCTION Oceanographic data were obtained in 1963 in Jones Sound (frontispiece) in CCGS "Labrador" while the vessel was engaged in routine patrol in arctic waters. The material is the most extensive obtained in the sound to 1963 (Table 1) and as well, appears to be of high quality. The purpose here is to provide a pictorial presentation and a description of the data with a review of earlier observations. Twenty-five positions (Figure 1) were oc- cupied during the period September 24 to September 28 at each of which a bathythermogram and serial data for salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen were obtained. The work was undertaken as a general programme of study of the water of the arctic archipelago begun in 1960, which was to in- clude the application of budget techniques to data obtained up to 1962 and the presentation of the data in atlas form. The 1961 and 1962 observations have been combined in one such atlas (Barber and Huyer, 1971) and aspects of heat and volume budgets also have been reported (Huyer and Barber, 1970; 1971); an atlas of the 1960 observations is in preparation. Table 1. A listing of oceanographic data observed in Jones Sound from shipboard up to and including the 1963 season, indicating the year, the ship, the CRN number and one appropriate reference. Dunbar (1951 p. 19) noted that USS "Edisto" visited Jones Sound in 1947. Year Ship CRN Reference 1928 "Godthaab" 2601-28-001 Riis-Carstensen, 1936 1952 "Edisto" 368 *Anonymous, 1954 1954 "Labrador" 219 Bailey, 1955 1962 "John A. MacDonald" 359 Anonymous, 1966 1962 "Labrador" 362 Anonymous, 1967a 1963 "Labrador" 10-63-005 Anonymous, 1967b *Classified Although most of the observations of 1960-1962 were made during the months of September and October, they suggested considerable variability, mainly in temperature, which it was thought might reflect changes of annual period, either in a pattern of circulation or of the character of the water in the circulation. During the preparation of the data report for the 1963 data (Anon., 1967b) it was considered that relatively less variation occurred in that portion of the data for Jones Sound (e.g. Figure 4 here) particular- ly within the surface layer. It seemed that this could be due in part to the relatively restricted connections to the western archipelago, i.e. Hell Gate and Cardigan Strait, through which a movement of a surface water into Jones Sound was likely. In addition, the horizontal temperature gradient in the deeper water was considerably less than observed in eastern Lancaster Sound and northern Baffin Bay where an obvious influence was a warmer element, apparently from west of Greenland and the Labrador Sea. However, in neither Lancaster Sound nor Jones Sound was it clear where the colder element of the 6 59 • 58 61• 5, 54 JONES SOUND STATION POSITIONS CCGS LABRADOR CRN 10-63-005 September 24- 28 1963 ELLESMERE APIA 2 ISLAND Island 4( 112 ,•1 2 73 - DEVON ISLAND Si JONES SOUND Depth in Hectometres (2. 5.5. 7 and 8) CHS 7070 Fig. 1. General information. (a) Approximate position and number of the stations occupied in Jones Sound in CCGS "Labrador" in 1963 (Anon., 1967b). (b) Place names and bathymetry from Canadian Hydrographic Service charts 7070 and 7950. Probable areas of threshold depth are shaded. 7 gradient originated; it seemed certain not from the west and it was consid- ered that perhaps it entered from the Arctic Ocean through Nares Strait or perhaps it was formed locally, i.e. in northern Baffin Bay. The latter pos- sibility had been a particularly engrossing one, for the formation of such a cold water could be expected if a feature such as North Water (Dunbar, 1973a) were significant. As well, the curious structure of the deep and bottom water of Baffin Bay seemed to require further elaboration which might pos- sibly include local processes, perhaps those occurring at the surface and perhaps in association with mixing and exchange processes originating with the tide. Subsequently, Muench (1971) has discussed the oceanography of Lancaster Sound, as well as possible modes of formation of both North Water and the deep and bottom water of Baffin Bay and he provided a tabulation of some of the available oceanographic data with a detailed description of them. More recently, Sadler (1976a,b) in a description of data observed in Nares Strait, provided estimates of the transports there and described the forma- tion of a Baffin Bay Bottom Water. 3. DESCRIPTIVE A useful reference for general information is the work of Dunbar and Greenaway (1956), while somewhat more detail concerning Jones Sound is available in the Pilot of Arctic Canada (Anon., 1968a) including climatic information and a climatological table for Craig Harbour. The latter table indicates an extraordinary frequency of calms which it notes, may be due to the location of the weather observing site. The following two paragraphs are from the Pilot (p. 393): Almost the whole of Jones Sound is surrounded by steeply rising shores, backed by mountainous terrain. On the north- eastern side of the sound, a highland zone of ancient Precambrian rocks, forming the southeastern part of Ellesmere Island, extends northward and rises to an elevation of about 4,500 feet (1,371 m 6); westward of this, the rocks are overlain by increasingly thicker strata of later sedimentaries which extend inland beyond the heads of the numerous fiords indenting the north side of the sound. Elevations decrease westward, to about 1,500 or 2,000 feet (457 m 2 or 609 m 6) near Hell Gate. Sverdrup has aptly described the northern side of Jones Sound as "one perpendicular headland after another, with high bluffs and precipices falling straight down to the narrow strip of shore. The southeastern shore of Jones Sound is mainly formed of cliffs which, though steep, are not precipitous, and in many places there is a rough, narrow foreshore. Inland, the country is high and rugged, and the whole of this part of the coast is dominated by the great east Devon Island ice field which rises to over 6,000 feet (1,828 m 8) about 20 miles inland. From this high land a number of large glaciers extend down to tidewater. Westward of Cape Sparbo (Lat. 75 ° 50'N, Long. 84 ° 03'W) the southwestern side of Jones Sound is essentially one of screebanked, sedimentary cliffs marking the northern margin of the sedimentary plateau which forms the western part 8 of Devon Island. Along this sector the inland plateau has elevations of about 1,000 to 1,800 feet (304 m 8 to 548 m 6), and it is broken along the coast by the outlets of numerous flat-floored, outwash-filled valleys. At the western end of Jones Sound, the rugged and snow covered COLIN ARCHER PENINSULA rises steeply to about 1,800 feet (548 m 6). The main features of.the bathymetry (Figure 1) appear to have been established, although survey of the region is not yet complete. The deepest depth in the sound appears to be 890 m and the deepest threshold 420 m. The latter occurs in Baffin Bay just south and east of Philpots Island. The deepest depth in the Glacier Strait approach appears to be 135 m, while that in the western approach is close to 132 m. It is possible that the deep portion of the sound consists of two regions, one to 890 m and the other to 800 m, connected through a depth of about 650 m. Pelletier (1966) in a description of the development of the submarine topography also provided an interpretation of bathymetric data.