Maureen Taylor, David Mountain, Cristina Bascuñán (NMFS)

Surface salinity distributions are presented from the Broad-Scale CTD data in order to highlight intrusions of relatively cold, low salinity (< 32 psu) Scotian Shelf water onto the eastern portion of Georges Bank.  At least one "cross-over" event was observed during each year of the field program. The largest and most persistent intrusion(s) occurred during the 1997 field season (Figure K1, below). The salinity distributions from the February, April and May 1999 surveys are consistent with the presence of Scotian Shelf water on the northeastern part of the Bank. The overall Bank salinities during 1998 were much lower than any of the other years.

Hydrographic data are also presented from the spring resource surveys conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NMFS). These surveys provide good coverage of the Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine regions.