INVESTIGATIONS OF OCEANIC STRATIFICATION, CURRENTS AND SURFACE WAVES.

Various investigations of ocean surface waves, currents and stratification are described. Data from 14,000 ballasted drift bottles released in the Gulf of Mexico during 1963 to 1965 are summarized in a format suitable for storage in the National Oceanographic Data Center. About 20 percent returns of drift bottles were realized from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico including Cuba and from the Atlantic coast of Florida as well as Bermuda. The vertical structure of temperature observed in the northeast Gulf of Mexico was typified by steps approximately 7 meters thick. The analysis of these steps was based on instrumentally induced deviations in salinity readings from a salinitytemperaturedepth system. Similar characteristics of the thermal structure have been noted in the Sargasso Sea and it is concluded that the step-like structure is likely to be a common feature in the permanent thermocline of the oceans. Results of comparative wave measurements between a free-floating wave meter and the Monster buoy indicate that the latter system can be used for wave measurements at frequencies less than 0.25 Hz. Author