Anomalous Conditions in the Slope Water Area in 1959

An oceanographic section made with the research vessel Crawford in June 1959 showed that the proportion of Labrador-Coastal Water to Slope Water at the meridian 57°30′W was unusually large. Data from this section combined with bathythermograms taken elsewhere in the Slope Water area and direct deep current measurements suggest that there was an abnormal influx of cold water from the Labrador Basin in 1959. This suggestion is strengthened by the high incidence of coastal fog in the summer of 1959. It is suggested that the cause of this influx was an abnormal North Atlantic weather pattern in January 1959.