OCEANOGRAPHY 417 



them, and frequently follow the edges, where the coast banks slope 

 down to the deep. The conclusion given above, that the Gulf 

 Stream comes through the Rockall Channel, is of importance to 

 future investigations; it shows that an annual investigation of the 

 water of this channel would certainly contribute in a valuable way 

 to the understanding of the variations of the climate of Western 



Europe. 



We shall not dwell at greater length here on the results of the 

 Frams oceanographical investigations in 1910. Only when the 

 observations then collected, as well as those of the Frithjofs and 

 Michael Sars's voyages, have been fully worked out shall we be 

 able to make a complete survey of what has been accomplished. 



Investigations in the South Atlantic, June to 

 August, 1911. 



In the South Atlantic we have the southward Brazil Current 

 on the American side, and the northward Benguela Current on the 

 African side. In the southern part of the ocean there is a wide 

 current flowing from west to east in the west wind belt. And 

 in its northern part, immediately south of the Equator, the South 

 Equatorial Current flows from east to west. We have thus in the 

 South Atlantic a vast circle of currents, with a motion contrary to 

 that of the hands of a clock. The Fram expedition has now 

 made two full sections across the central part of the South 

 Atlantic; these sections take in both the Brazil Current and the 

 Benguela Current, and they lie between the eastward current on 

 the south and the westward current on the north. This is the 

 first time that such complete sections have been obtained between 

 South America and Africa in this part of the ocean. And no 

 doubt a larger number of stations were taken on the Frames 

 voyage than have been taken — with the same amount of detail 

 — in the whole South Atlantic by all previous expeditions put 

 together. 



