Stoi'e Tamso the depth is about 200 ni. or more. Depths of about 

 200 m. have also been sounded further in than the island mentio- 

 ned; but the Porsanger Fiord on the wliole may be said to be 

 comparatively shallow. 



According- to dr. Hjort') a remarkably low temperature -f- 

 1".15 C. was registered, at a depth of from 90— 100 meters, in the 

 summer of 1900, by the „Michael Sars" expedition. 



Further out in the tiord at a depth of 200 m. a tempei-ature 

 of 3°.(> C. was measured. When we visited the Porsanger Fiord 

 at the end of April 1899, the whole of the inner part of the tiord 

 was covered vith ice, but, as the observations made on ■''—^^/i 

 (nrs. 833—846) show, a temperature so low as 0^.2 C. was taken 

 between Store and Lille Tamso at a depth of 200 m., and this is 

 the lowest temperature jwhich has ever been registered in any 

 Noi'wegian fiord at such a great depth. And the tempei'ature 

 H- f.is C, which was registered by the „Michael gars" expedition 

 ill the summer of 1900, is the lowest which has been found at all in 

 any Norwegian fiord. 



The temperatures noted in the Porsanger fiord give similar 

 results to those already kno^\■n from the Lyngen Fiord. There is 

 a fall in temperature from the surface do\\-nwards (the reversed 

 winter state). 



At the mouth of tlic Porsanger Fiord on -*/4 1900 the follow- 

 ing conditions were noted: 



From the surface down to 200 m. the salinity is fairly uniform, 

 liut the temperature falls from 2.25 to 1.3. On the other hand, 

 along the bottom at a deptli of 250 m. a flow of warmer and 

 .■waiter water has jieuctratcd (2°.75 C. and 34.78 %o). ISctween 

 Store and I^ille Tamsii where observations were made on -74 1899 

 we noted the following: 



M (T. ILion-r, Fiskeri Of^ Hvalfangst, (iiero-en lil 

 Mulluskeii cler er.sten Nordmeerfahrt. (Bergens mn? 



There is reason to lielievo that the ..reversed winter state" 

 describes conditions which are ea.sily disturbed. It is true I had 

 no opportunity of repeating the vertical section at any other places 

 than those in the Lyngen Fiord, but thei-e it was found that the 

 usual winter conditions were again prevalent on the Vo- When 

 giving oneself the task of judging concerning these peculiar con- 

 ditions, it is helpful to remember that nothing corresponding has 

 been noticed in the western fiords (vestlandske fjordc) where we 

 have for several years taken measurements also in the winter. To 

 settle the hydrographical conditions, in any single fiord for instance, 

 several factors may have to be reckoned with. That the tempera- 

 ture of the atmosphere plays an important one, is clear, and by 

 comparing the results obtained in the northern and southwestern 

 fiords, as I have done, I have come to the conclusion that the fall 

 of rain is a factor which must be considered. 



From Mohn's rainfall-charts ') it will be seen that the fall is 

 most uneven in the different parts of the country. Although there 

 has of course been some slight variations in the fall in one and 

 the same place from one year to anothei-, yet on the whole it is 

 seen that the distribution has been fairly uniform during the period 

 that these measurements were made. It is another matter that 

 there may pos.sibly be something periodical in the distribution of 

 the fall. 



It may thus be stated that there is a greater fall in the we- 

 stern fiord districts than in the fiords of TromsO and Finmark, and 

 it is reasonable to suppose that this circumstance must have some 

 influence both hydrographically and biologically speaking. I will 

 now only allude to the hydrographical part of the subject. 



One must expect in the Finmark fiords, where there is less 

 fall, to be able to trace a rise in salinity, especially as so much 

 falls in the form of snow so that it does not at once make its 

 influence felt. Besides this, in the northern fiords large quantities 

 of fresh water is retained in the layers of ice in the inner parts 

 of the fiords. Fi'om these circumstances one might attempt to ex- 

 plain the greater average salinity of the surface layers of the nor- 

 thern fiords in winter as compared to the fiords in the west country 

 (vestlandske f^jorde). 



On account of the slight flow of fresh water into such a fiord 

 as the Kvænang, in the course ol' a winter a great uniformity in 

 salinity may be established, and ( ]"nlc obsei-vations) just for this 

 very reason the cooling of the atiimspliere will exert a great in- 

 fluence on the cooling of the layers, the vertical current taking 

 with it the water with its low temperature (which it has reached 

 by being cooled by the atmosphere) from the surface downwards. 



The observations made furnish sufficient proof that in the 

 coui'se of the winter a gi'cat levelling in temperature and salinity 

 goes on. and tluTc are instaiircs of complete iinilbniiity from the 

 surface right down Iu the bottom, llowevei', it is pos.sible that 

 these conditions may be disturbiMl hy warmer coast water being 

 driven into the fiord by the wiml. .\nd in such a case the „re- 

 verscd winter state" would be lound, the original fiord water having 

 it settles under the inflowing coast water, 

 diiilitly salter. After all, this is only a pa- 

 lic ..Xonlliav" (the North Ocean) where the 

 V lidin iiioro .southerly regions settles above 

 water «liich ciiincs from the north. 



cooled so much that 

 even if the latter is 

 rallel case to that in t 

 warm salt ocean \\at( 

 tile cold and less salt 



