28 0. B. B0GGILD. BOTTOM DEPOSITS. [norw. pol. EXP. 



No. 1, which was taken on the 24th July, 1893, about 60 miles west of 

 Goose Land on Novaya Semlya, is a good example of a partially, uniformly 

 grained sample. The bulk of the particles, which lie between 005 and - 5 

 mm., form a complete whole, which is due to a single factor. In this instance 

 it can only be the ocean currents, which flow in a north-westerly direction in 

 this region, coming from the Vaigach Straits (cf. Nansen, IX, p. 267). The 

 current must have just sufficient velocity to carry grains of this size from 

 Novaya Semlya and Vaigach to the station in question, while the larger par- 

 ticles fall to the bottom nearer these islands, and the finer particles are for 

 the most part carried farther away. The great expansion of the curve to the left, 

 however, shows that in this locality too, there must be some possibility of the 

 finer particles being deposited. This can only be the case when the water 

 near the bottom does not travel with any very great velocity, and this again 

 may possibly be caused by the fact that the locality is situated in a hollow 

 compared with its nearest surroundings. Other causes, however, may also be 

 imagined. The existence of two maxima in the curve for the clayey matter 

 is probably due to the fact that the clay in the sample is not of the same 

 consistency as when it was deposited. As the very great majority of the 

 sandy particles are of sizes between 0"05 and 0"5 mm., it is probable that the 

 greater part of the clayey particles had also corresponding sizes, when origi- 

 ginally deposited, they have thus been in a coherent condition, and they may 

 to some extent have been disintegrated by boiling. The fact that this is 

 not the case with the remainder shows that the clay must have had time to 

 become partially transformed since its deposition, which in this locality does 

 not take place with any very great rapidity, as the comparatively deep brown 

 colour of the clay also indicates. The extension of the curve to the right, 

 which is quite marked although very small, shows the influence of the ice. 

 Whether ice floes of shore ice, or possibly icebergs from Novaya Semlya, 

 there will easily be carried a small quantity of particles of all possible sizes, 

 of which only those of more than 05 mm. will be perceptible in the sample, 

 while the finer particles will be occluded among the other constituents. 



Nos. 2—6 were all taken in the sea north of the mouths of the Obi 

 and the Yenisei. The three samples, Nos. 2, 5 and 6, resemble one an- 

 other greatly, and have a very characteristic appearance as compared with the 

 other samples taken near the coast. The river-water, as already mentioned, 



