248 CARL SKOTTSBERG 



the coniiiiaiKl of Dr. J. G. AxDEKSSox, remained from the 23(1 Xo 

 x'ember till the 28th December in the waters round the Louis-l'hilippe-penin- 

 sula. Xow we i^ot a collection that would have been cjuite satisfactor}- 

 for the purposes of a ii,()od account of antarctic marine plant-life, but 

 which was unhap{)ily lost with the ship. A few remnants, and the 

 observations noted down may serve now for a description, rather scant 

 and lacking in fullness of detail. 



The places visited by us and belon^ini^ to the Antarctic ])roper ' 

 were: the South Shetland Islands, the coasts of the Louis-Phili])pe-penin- 

 sula, the Palmer archipelat^o (Trinity Island &ca) Ross Island and the 

 neiiihbourhood of Snow Hill. 



The influence of external factor.s. 



The factors, which may exercise an influence upon marine vegeta- 

 tation are: — the nature of the coast (kind of rock, confii^uration), the 

 kind of bottom, the temperature, salinity and movements of the sea, 

 the tides, ice, the light and perhaps also the temperature of the air. 



The geological character and configuration of the coast 

 is briefly the following. The South Shetland and South Orkney Is- 

 lands as well as the west coast of Graham Land belong to a series, 

 called by Dr. ANDERSSON »Region of folding and of Andine eruptives», 

 composed generally of more or less hard rocks. The coast ist rocky 

 and bordered with numerous small islands. The inland ice generally 

 extends down to the water. Owing of the nature of the coast it does 

 not produce icebergs, but crumbles on the rocks. In j:)laces where the 

 ice leaves the beach free we often find numerous water})ools and ba- 

 sins. The outlying islands give shelter and the vegetation is therefore 

 comparatively rich. 



Round the Cro\\nprince-(iUS lAVLS-Channcl on the east side of 

 the countrx- is found the »Ross-Island-formation», consisting of basaltic 

 tuffs and lavas. Vov the most part this is the formation of the coast, 

 but in several places we have found another formation underlying it 

 and called Snow 1 lill-Seymour I. -scries;, consisting of soft sandstone. 



' Compare C. Skottsberg : Some remarks upon the gcograpliical distribution ot 

 the vegetation in the colder Southern Hemisphere iVmer 19O), II. 1. Stockholm). 



* J. G. Axdeksson: On the geologv of (Iraham Land. (Hull. olthcCjcol. Instit. 

 of Upsala, Vol. VII. 1906). 



