H. 



INTRODUCTION. 



aving been entrusted with the mechanical and mineralogical examina- 

 tion of the bottom-samples of the Fram Expedition, I now publish the results 

 of this examination, in the hope that a tolerably clear idea will thereby be 

 obtained of the lithology of the bottom of the North Polar Sea, a sea which, 

 on account both of its geographical situation, and of most of the factors that 

 have to do with sedimentation, occupies a most exceptional position as com- 

 pared with all other seas. 



Among the innumerable important scientific results obtained by the Fram 

 Expedition the proving of the existence of a large, deep, North Polar Basin 

 is by no means the least. Formerly, we generally believed that the North 

 Pole was surrounded by great tracts of land, and that the sea to the north 

 of the Old World was of comparatively small extent, and particularly, of in- 

 considerable depth compared with the large oceans of the world. 



It was formerly, hardly possible to form a clear conception of the appea- 

 rance of the bottom-deposit of this ocean bed, but it was scarcely expected 

 that it would be of so consistently fine a character as these bottom samples 

 would seem to indicate. As long as nothing very definite was known about 

 the remarkable drift which nearly always prevails in the Polar Sea, it was 

 conceivable that a portion of the region at least, might be covered with ice- 

 bergs ; and even though it be conceded that their power of transporting gravel 

 and stone is of a very disputable character, yet it is certain that with the 

 lapse of long periods the bottom would obtain some coarse material from 



this source. 



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