Sea, ice and surface water circulation, Alaskan Continental Shelf

The author has identified the following significant results. Two cruises were conducted in Cook Inlet to obtain ground truth. Forty-seven stations during 22-23 August and 68 stations during 25-29 September 1972 were occupied and temperature, salinity, percent light transmission, and suspended load of surface waters obtained. Similar data at various depths was also obtained at selected stations. Cook Inlet is an estuary with complex mixing of river discharges and ocean water. The Upper Cook Inlet shows a gradual and systematic decrease in salinity, however, west of Kenai the mixing of waters is complex. The sediments in suspension originating at the head of the inlet generally settle out east of Kenai and Drift River. Sediment load in suspension decreased gradually from 1700 mg/1 near Anchorage to about 50 mg/1 in the Narrows. In the Lower Cook Inlet the suspended load varied between 1-10 mg/1. Surface waters with sediments in suspension and ocean water with relatively lower sediment concentration are clearly discernible in ERTS-1 images obtained during September 18, 1972 pass over Cook Inlet. The movement and mixing of these waters can also be delineated in the images