BIOLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS IN HUDSON BAY: 6. THE GENERAL HYDROGRAPHY AND HYDRODYNAMICS OF THE WATERS OF THE HUDSON BAY REGION

The waters of Hudson bay differ markedly from the waters of Hudson strait and the waters of the open ocean. Intense stratification in the upper twenty-five metres, decreasing as the waters of the open ocean are approached, gives Hudson bay the character of a large estuary. Below fifty metres the waters are for all purposes dynamically dead, thus resulting in a cold saline body of water which probably undergoes very little change from season to season. The movements of the waters at various levels are dealt with to show that the inflow of waters from Fox channel and the many fresh-water drainage areas control the hydrographic conditions as found. The main water movement is from the James bay area to Hudson strait and thence to the open ocean.