Atlantic Ocean atlas of temperature and salinity profiles and data from the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958

Abstract

From the Preface: Within the framework of the observational program in physical oceanography which was executed during the International Geophysical Year of 1957-58, the WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in partial association with the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY, England, performed a methodical oceanographic survey covering most of the Atlantic Ocean. Supplemented with similar observations made in the western North Atlantic just prior to the IGY, the data obtained constitute a comprehensive new body of information pertaining to the circulation of the entire Atlantic. To summarize many of the observations in a particularly useful and efficient manner, as well as to perform a fundamental analysis upon them, the following atlas of Atlantic thermohaline structure has been prepared. Although distributions of other properties measured on these cruises might also have been depicted in this volume, it was felt that a more coherent and serviceable atlas would be produced if attention were concentrated exclusively upon temperature and salinity; the measurements of these two variables, moreover, are of consistent quality, since they were all made by a single small research group employing the same techniques and equipment throughout the survey period.