Hvdiogrnpliy. 



As (lie iilai'os at which thi'S(> ohscivalions woro made arc so 

 near oacli otlior that one iii,i\, wilhnnt any tVai' of making any 

 mistake worthy itt' the name, eoiisider them as one and the same, 

 it is made clear from this table tiiat iVom .lannaiy to April there is 

 a considerable decrease in the temperatuie, but an increase in the 

 salinity of the layers of water on the Noi-thcrn coast banks. We 

 see too that although at Vardø and Norkyn there was no indication 

 (if the spring mininiuin, yet on tlic sea coast off Vesteraalen the 

 minimum (2.65) was I'eachcd at a ilcptli of 20 meters as early as 

 April nth. 



Here is a table of obsei'vations made ou tiie coast sea otf Senjcn. 



'i'he comparatively high temperatures and salinity on 'V4 indicate 

 tiiat water from the south has displaced the Avater whose temperature 

 and salinity on "Vi is mentioned above. That the layers of water 

 on the banks of the northern coast are tolerable homogeneous in 

 the winter, was also gathered from the observations of previous 

 years. 



Captain l^ie on '% 189'^ found the following conditions at a 

 station situated west of Søroen: 



'V4 1897. 70» 45' N.. 20" 30' E. 



In February 1897 I measured off Vesteraalen: 

 1" , l.S!J7. OS" .50' N.. 1 1" :!<;' K. 



When the salinity is as even as tabulated above, a fall in the 

 surface temperature caused by the giving of^' of heat to the atmo- 

 .sphere is easily balanced by the vertical currents. So as to give 

 a clear idea of the decrease of surface temperatures, I will now 



compare ob.sei'vations made in tlic (Iccj) dlf Tiano Tlio Vest Fiord 

 — on Feb. (ith and March jr.th is'.i'.). 



Tranødybct. 68" 15'.5 N., 15" 49' E. 



It will be noticed that the fall in temperature has principally 

 taken place in the upper 20 meters, which in the time mentioned 

 became about 1" coldei'. 



The observations made along the Lofot fishing banks in March 

 1900 bear great resemblance to those in March of the year before. 



Minimum (2 — .3) was found on the suifacc, and maximum at 

 a depth of 150—200 metei's. 



This again proved that the maximum temperature is found at 

 or near the bottom in the majority of the fishing banks. 



Measurements at Høla near Svolvæi' and in the Vest Fiord, 

 halfway between Skroven and Fladø (''A) proved that spring mini- 

 mum was even then beginning to be evident. 



The salinity of the waters which covered the Lofot banks in 

 January 1899 was from 33—35 "/oo. The titration of the samples 

 taken in that month only rarely, however, show so high a saUnity as 

 35. The complete series of observations made on '7i on the sea 

 off Vesteraalen (40 miles NNW of Gaukvæi'ø) did not even reach 

 so high as 35 although samples were taken from the surface right 

 down to a depth of 1000 meters. But as this is an isolated case, 

 I will not give any particular weight to it. 



During measurements in February, 35 "on was reached in some 



"/2 1899, neai- Skroven 200 m. 35.08. 



''/2 „ Oxsund 300 m. 35.08. 



-V2 ,, Henningsvær III 200 m. 35.03. 



"/2 „ Reine I 150 m. 35.08. 



It will be found too that measuiements in the Vest Fiord in 

 March showed a salinity of about 35 at a depth of 200 m. and 

 the same holds good with regard to April. Neither was any ex- 

 ception to this rule discovered in the measnromcnts in the Vest 

 Fiord in March I'JOO. 



If the salinity on different dates be compared, for instance that 

 at (Jaukværo (Gaukvær Island) on >7i and ''A 1899 and at Senjen 

 on -'Vi and "A it "^vill at once be seen tliat a considerable increase 

 has taken place. 



So as to emphasize this fact still more, I will mention my 

 observations at Høla neai' Svolvær. 



