Sources of Water Contributed to the Bay of Fundy by Surface Circulation

Abstract

The returns from the 35,000 drift bottles launched in the Gulf of Maine area since 1919 have been analyzed to determine the annual cycle of surface drift. The source of surface flow into the Bay of Fundy expands from a minimum during January in the offing of the eastern side of the bay to a maximum in May which includes most of Georges Bank, the Gulf of Maine and the southwestern Scotian Shelf, then commencing in September gradually contracts toward the minimum. Secular variations in the removal of surface water from the Bay of Fundy, indicative of changes in the Maine eddy, were noted during 1957 and 1958.