10 



lO 



IDU A. E. P0RS11.D. 



Scoresby Sd. West-Greenland 



Cassiopc fctragona 1570 010 70° 



Pidicularis hirsuta 1320 770 70° 



(785) 



/'. Uuialn — 770 70° 



Campaiuila utii flora 1570 940 72° 



12!l() S. Grl. 



Erigeron conipositus 940 770 70° 



(1)10) 



E. eriocephalus 1255 770 70'^ 



(880) 



Arnica alpina 1 255 770 70'^ 



Taraxacuni pln/niatocarpnt)i 1255 075 70°Disko 



Snow- or Firiiliue. 



Warming (30, p. 82) lias compiled records of the altitiido above 

 sea-level at which the perpetual snowline occurs in Greenland. From 

 W. Greenland the statements vary considerably; the average may 

 be taken to lie between 600—950 m. No very pronounced difTerence is 

 fonnd as \ve travel from the extreme South until we reach localities, 

 which lie far to the North, a faet which reqiiires exj)lanation : as snggested 

 l»y Warming the reason may be decreasing precipitation accompanied 

 by increasing evaporation as we pass towards the North. Since the 

 publication of Warming's paper, Drygalski (3, p. 247 & 303 fT.) has 

 stated that the snowline on the Qarajaq Glacier and on the north-east 

 side of the Nugssuaq peninsula in W. Greenland, a lilllf iiorlli of the 

 70th parallel, occurs between^) 8 — 900 m. above sea-level. In E. Green- 

 land Koch and Wegener (8, p. 57) found the snow-line on Germania 

 L(l. 77 L;it. X. at 3 — 500 m. while on Dr. Louises Ld., hardly more 

 than 100 km. beyond the coast, it was found to be about 1000 m. above 

 sea-level. Measurements by means of captive baloons showed no decrease 

 in temperature below about 300 m. Within the 70 — 75th ])arallels Payer 

 (15, p, 504) piaces the snow-line at 9 — 1200 m. above sea-level. 



Hartz unfortunately gives no records i>(' tlic snow-line altitudf, 

 but, from remarks made by him and ol lier- observers it wnujd ;ij)j)ear 

 that towards the head nf llic fjdrd in Scoresby Sound the snow-line 

 occurs at a still greater height. This is consistent with, and may be 

 the reason for, the occurrence of a much greater numbc^r of sf)ecies at 

 a higher altitude on the East of Greenland. Thus in E. Greenland from 

 1000 — 1600 m. not less than 43 species pass the 1000 metre line, while 



^) On Aug. 26th when the highest absolute temperature was measured in the 

 lowland, Drygalski found the 0° C. isotherm 860 m. above sea-level. 



