15 



fortsættes med Afshitriingen af Uridersøgelserne af Bankerne 

 udenfor Romdalskysten henimod Shetland. 



Fra dette Fylt kommer man videre vestover til den 

 dybe Rende mellem Shetland og Færøerne, der. navnlig i 

 dens sydvestre Del. har været Gjenstand for "Porcupine"- 

 Expeditionens Undersogelser. Dens nordøstre Del vil det 

 blive den muske Expeditions Opgave at undefsøge nærmere 

 og studere dens Overgang til det kolde Ishavsdyb. Paa 

 denne Strækning ville Iagttagelser af Strømforholdene samt 

 Undersogelse af Havvandets Beskaffenheil i de forskjellige 

 Dybder, til hvilke Forholds Undersogelse den norske Ex- 

 pedition antagelig vil være hedre udrustet end den nævnte 

 Britiske, kunne blive af fundamental Betydning for Hav- 

 strømmenes Theori, 



En Betingelse for Held er imidlertid roligt Vejr. 



Etter Afslutningen af Undersøgelsen af Færø-Shetland 

 Benden. vil det af tiere Grunde, der nedenfor ere nævnte, 

 være hensigtsmæssigt. at man anløber Thorshavn paa Fær- 

 øerne, for at forberede sig til Undersøgelsen af Streknin- 

 gen mellem Færøerne og Island. 



1'ndersogelserne paa denne Strækning ville omfatte 

 Forholdene ved Overgangen fra det forholdsvis grunde Hav 

 mellem Færøerne og Island, der endnu tilhører Atlanter- 

 havet, til det kolde Ishavsdyb, der ligger østenfor. Her 

 kommer Expeditionen til at arltejde paa et saagodtsom i 

 alle Henseender aldeles nyt Felt. hvad der ogsaa gjælder 

 de følgende Strækninger. 



Paa Island er det nodvendigt at foretage lignende 

 magnetiske Iagttagelser som dem. der ere tænkte udførte paa 

 Utvær. Antagelig vil Reykjaviks Havn i denne Henseende 

 frembyde en bekvem Lejlighed. 



Mellem Kap Farvel og Island er der i sidste Som- 

 mer af Chefén for den britiske Fregat •' Valorous," Captein 

 Jones, udfort en Række Iagttagelser af Dybtemperatur i 

 Forbindelse med Bundskrabninger. Denne Række udfylder 

 paa en etter Omstændighederne tilfredsstillende Maade 

 Overgangen mellem de tidligere undersøgte Dele af Atlan- 

 terhavet og den Linie. der — som dannende Overgangen 

 fra Atlanterhavet til vort arktiske Havbassin — maa blive 

 at sætte som den vestlige Grændse for den norske Expe- 

 ditions Undersøgelsesfelt. nemlig Linien gjennem de Stræ- 

 der og Havstrekninger, der adskille Shetlandsøerne, Fær- 

 øerne. Island oe; Grønland. 



For at fuldstændiggjøre Undersogelseme paa denne 

 Linie bliver det den norske Expeditions Opgave at forsøge 

 undersøgt Strækningen mellem Island og Grønland, en • >p- 

 gave. hvis Løsnings Vigtighed Dr. Carpenter. en af Delta- 

 gerne og Lederne af flere af de britiske Dybhavsexpedi- 

 tioner. med Styrke har gjort opmerksom paa. 



of the Expedition can he continued, by closing the investi- 

 gation ni the banks off the coast of Romsdalen in the di- 

 rection of the Shetland Islands. 



Westwards from this tract extends the deep channel 

 between the Shetlands and the Færoe Islands,' which — in 

 particular its south-westerly portion — was explored on 

 the "Porcupine" Expedition. The north-eastern part, 

 together with the hov» and where this channel passes into 

 the depths of the Arctic ( )cean, will be made a subject 

 ul special investigation by the Norwegian Expedition. Ob- 

 servations on the direction and rate of the currents through- 

 out this section of the channel, and on the chemical con- 

 stituents of the water at different depths, which the Nor- 

 wegian Expedition. from the character of its equipment, 

 will. it is believed, have greater- facilities for instituting 

 than bad the above-mentioned British Expedition with the 

 "Porcupine." niav prove of fundamental importance in elu- 

 cidating the theory of ocean currents. 



Meanwhile, a sine qua non for achieving success is 

 favourable weather. 



After terminating the investigation of the Færoe-Shet- 

 land channel, it will. for divers reasons, specilied below, 

 he advisable to touch at Thorshavn on the Færoe Islands, 

 previous to exploring the oceanTtract between the Færoe 

 Islands and Iceland. 



In this locality. the Expedition -will investigate the 

 nature of the transition from the comparatively shallow sea 

 (part bf the Atlantic) between the Færoe Islands and Ice- 

 land to the depths of the Arctic Ocean, stretching east- 

 wards. Here, the exploratory work will be in a held 

 essentially new. which also applies to the succeeding tracts. 



In Iceland. magnetical observations must be instituted 

 similar to those the Expedition will take at Utvær. For 

 this purpose, the port of Reykjavik is believed to he a 

 convenient locality. 



Last summer a series of deep-sea temperatures. in 

 connexion with dredgings, were tåken by Loftus Jones, 

 captain of the British frigate "Valorous." between Cape 

 Farewell and Ireland. These observations have, as far as 

 circumstances would permit, eontributéd greatly to our 

 knuwledge of the part of the Ocean lying between the sec- 

 tions of the Atlantic previously investigated and the line 

 which — coiistituting as it does the. boundary between the 

 Atlantic and the hasiu of the Arctic Ocean — must 

 be regarded as the western limit of the region it is the 

 object of the Norwegian Expedition to explore, viz. the 

 line passing through the stia its and tracts of ocean that 

 extend befween the Shetlands, the Færoe Islands. Iceland. 

 and Greenland. 



With a view to render the investigation along this 

 houudary-liue as complete as possible. the Norwegian Ex- 

 pedition will endeavour to explore the tract between 

 Iceland and Greenland. — a problem to the importance 

 of which Dr. Carpenter, member and co-director of severa] 

 of the British deejj-sea Expeditions. has repeatedly drawn 

 attention. 



