TTnder 19de Marts 1874 indsendte Professorerne H. Mohn 

 U og G. 0. Sårs til den kongelige norske Regjerings 

 Departement for det Indre en Forestilling saalydende: 



Gjennem vore Studier af vort Lands Naturforhold 

 ere vi komne til den Overbevisning, at Forklaringen og 

 Forstaaelsen af disse maa søges kovedsagelig i Forholdene 

 i det Hav. som omsluttes af Norge. Færøerne. Island, Jan 

 Mayen og Spidsbergen. Denne Del af Verdenshavet danner 

 et stort Bassin. i hvilke Atlanterhavets varme Vande støde 

 sammen med Ishavets kolde. De Bidrag til Kundskaben 

 om dette Hav, som hidtil foreligge, gjælde hovedsagelig 

 alene Bækkenets Rand. og skyldes ■ for den største Del 

 Forskninger, anstillede af Expeditioner, ndsendte fra frem- 

 mede Lande. Saaledes have de forskjellige Svenske og 

 Franske Expeditioner til Spidsbergen givet udmerkede Op- 

 lysninger om Bassinets østlige Rand. og de fra England 

 med Dampskibene -'Lightning" og "Porcupine" i 1869 og 

 1870 udsendte Expeditioner have tilvejebragt Oplysninger 

 om dets sydvestlige Rand mellem Skotland og Færøerne, 

 der i mere end en Henseende maa kaldes epokegjørende. 

 Hvor Havet støder op til Norges Kyst ere Forholdene inde 

 ved Kysten blevne undersøgte dels ved vore Zoologers Ar- 

 beider, dels i de senere Aar ved de med Gplodningsdamp- 

 skibet -Hansteen" udforte Expeditioner. Fra det aabne 

 Hav derimod er det yderlig lidet. der er tilveiebragt af 

 Oplysninger. Norske Selfangere 'have vistnok siden 1867 

 jevnlig hver Vaar anstillet meteorologiske Iagttagelser og 

 lejlighedsvis ibrsøgt Maalinger af, Temperaturen i Havets 

 Dyb, men i Forhold til Gjenstandens Storhed ere disse 

 Resultater kun at betragte som de første Vink om de 

 sande Forhold. 



Hvad de fysiske Forhold angaar. have de Franske, og 

 i langt højere Grad de Svenske Spidsbergens-Expeditioner 

 foretaget Lodninger mellem Norge og Spidsbergen samt 

 langs denne Øgruppes Vestside, der vise. at der mellem de 

 nævnte Lande ikke er dybere end 270 Favne, og Lodnin- 

 ger fra tiere Tyske Expeditioner have godtgjort, at hele 

 Østishavet mellem Norge. Spidsbergen. Novaja Semlja og 

 Nord-Rusland danner et eneste Flak. der grunder op mod 

 disse Landes Kyster. 



Deu norske Nordhavsexpedition. V. Wille : Expeditionens Historie. 



On the 19th of March 1874, Professors H. Mohn and 

 G. 0. Sårs memorialized the Home Department of His 

 Norwegian Majesty's Government as follows: — 



A careful study of the physical and biological con- 

 ditions peculiar to our native country, has convinced us 

 that the- means whereby to comprehend and explaiu them 

 must be sought chiefly in a thorough exploration of the 

 Sea stretching between Norway, the Færoe Islands. Iceland, 

 Jan Mayen, and Spitzbergen. This part of the Ocean con- 

 stitutes a wide basin. in which the warm water of the 

 Atlantic meets the cold indraught from the Polar Seas. 

 Our present knowledge of this ocean-tract reiers principally 

 to the margin of the basin, and is in greater part a result 

 of Expeditions despatched by foreign countries. Thus, for 

 instance. the various Swedish and French Expeditions to 

 Spitzbergen have contributed very materially to furnish 

 information concerning the eastern margin of the basin. 

 and tbose sent out from England with the "Lightning" 

 and the -'Porcupine." in 1869 and 1870. have. as regards 

 the south-western margin, between Scotland and the Færæ 

 Islands, supplied data that may be said to mark an epocb 

 in the history of marine research. The strip of ocean 

 immediately adjacent to the Norwegian coast, has been in- 

 vestigated partly by our zoologists in the course of their 

 labours. and partly on the annual expeditions of the Coast 

 Survey, with the steamship -'Hansteen." But as to the 

 open sea. wbat we as yet know is meagre in the extreme. 

 True. meteorological observations have. since 1867, been 

 tåken every spring by captains of Norwegian sealers. 

 who now and aga in will make attenipt to determine the 

 tempera ture in the depths of the ocean: but such results 

 must. compared to the magnitude of the problem, be re- 

 garded as mere intimations of the truth. 



With respect to physical conditions. 'soundings were 

 effected on the French. and more especially on the Swedish. 

 Spitzbergen Expeditions, between Norway and Spitzbergen 

 and along the western shores of that group of _ islands. 

 showing the depth of the ocean between the said countries 

 to be nowliere greater than 270 fathoms ; and from soundings 

 tåken on divers German Expeditions, the whole eastern sec- 

 tion of the Arctic Ocean is known to constitute an immense 

 flat. shoaling gradually up to the coasts of Norway. Spitz- 

 bergen. Novaja Zemlja. and Northern Russia. 



i 



