270 



DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN 



general motion is quite insignificant compared with the tidal 

 current. 



In Fig. 180 we see some current-lines of a totally different 

 form, the results of a number of measurements made on 

 Storeggen, westward of Aalesund, on the 12th and 13th July 

 1906. A line is drawn for each of the following depths below 

 the surface: 2, 20, 50, 100, and 200 metres (the depth of water 

 being 260 metres). It is seen that the current on the whole 

 flowed in a north-easterly direction at all depths, but the 



Stat 58 



12 VI 



to meters 

 1910 



Fig. 181. — Result of Current-Measurements at io metres at Station 58, 

 SOUTH OF THE AZORES (i2th June 1910). 



direction was not constant, as implied by the bends in the lines. 

 The variations of direction were due to the tides, but here the 

 tidal current was weak compared with the general motion of 

 the water-masses. In this place the coast-current of the upper 

 75 or 100 metres, and that portion of the Gulf Stream which 

 traversed the layers below, both ran towards the north-east ; 

 had there been no tide-motion on the bank, the lines would 

 probably have been straight, not sinuous. 



The measurements at these two stations give an idea of the 

 movements of the water -masses in the sea, and show that 

 current-lines may have very different courses, largely determined 



