344 APPENDIX I 



the two principal diurnal constituents approximates 

 more and more nearly to the theoretical ratio; that 

 is, to the ratio between the two corresponding tidal 

 forces. This is what one would expect to find in pas- 

 sing from a region possessing diurnal tides derived 

 from the irregular tides of Baffin Bay to a region where 

 the equilibrium diurnal tides of the Arctic become 

 important. 



The range and time of occurrence of the diurnal 

 tide at Point Aldrich do not differ greatly from their 

 equilibrium values based upon the assumption of a deep 

 polar basin extending from Grant Land and the Arctic 

 Archipelago to the marginal waters off the portion of 

 the coast of Siberia lying east of the New Siberian 

 Islands. But De Long's party observed tides at 

 Bennett Island in 1881. From these observations it 

 is seen that the diurnal tide has a much smaller range 

 than would be permissible under the hypothesis of deep 

 water in the portion of the Arctic Basin just referred 

 to. The diurnal tides at Pitlekaj, Point Barrow, and 

 Flaxman Island are, as noted below, also too small to 

 permit of this hypothesis. The smallness of the diurnal 

 tide in the cases cited can probably be explained on no 

 other assumption than that of obstructing land masses 

 extending over a considerable portion of the unknown 

 region of the Arctic Ocean. 



No further attempt will be made here to prove the 

 necessity for a tract of land, an archipelago, or an area 

 of very shallow water situated between the present 

 Arctic Archipelago and Siberia. A brief discussion of 

 this question, together with a tidal map of the Arctic 

 Regions, will be found in a paper about to be issued 



