Some Oceanographic Characteristics of the Larger Inlets of Southeast Alaska

Observations were made of salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen in 15 inlets in southeast Alaska in June 1964 and August 1965 with some observations in the southern inlets in May 1966. The data are summarized in tables, vertical profiles, and characteristic diagrams to provide a general description of the water property distributions in the larger inlets. Some comparisons are made with corresponding distributions in British Columbia inlets, previously described by Pickard in June 1961 in the Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada.The larger Alaska inlets are longer and wider than those in British Columbia but the mean and maximum depths are similar. Sill depths are also similar and there are few very shallow sills. The river runoff into the Alaska inlets is generally less than into the British Columbia ones. The larger rivers (the minority) have a summer maximum from glacier and snowfield melt whereas the smaller ones generally have fall and winter maxima. Icebergs occur in some of the Al...