SOME RESULTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS. 445 



Great nttention lias heen directed to the flow of the European stream 

 on the Wyville-Thomson liidge, and the investigations made since 1902 

 by the Scottish hydrographers in this region have sliown that the 

 conditions here are very complicated. Not only have we to con.sider 

 the fluctuations of the Atlantic stream itself, but we have also to 

 consider the influence exerted on the flow of the current by the North 

 Polar stream. In the chart this is represented by the broken oblique 

 lines. The Polar stream, which consists of cold and relatively light 

 Arctic water flowing to the south, is broken into two sub-streams. 

 One of these, the G-reenlandic stream, is an ice-bearing one, and flows 

 through the Denmark strait. The other, which does not usually carry 

 ice, is the east Icelandic Polar stream, and flows south past ihe east 

 coast of that island. This stream attains its maximum volume in 

 spring, and it may then obstruct the flow of Atlantic water north of 

 the Faeroe-Shetland channel and so cause this to enter the North Sea 

 in increased volume. In the winter, when the flow of Arctic water 

 southwards is at its minimum, the passage northwards of Atlantic 

 water is facilitated. Not only does the varying intensity of the Polar 

 stream aflect the northerly passage of Atlantic water, but we have also 

 to deal with an undercurrent of Arctic water which flows beneath the 

 Atlantic water in an opposite direction, and also with an outflowing 

 stream of brackish water from the Baltic, which also exerts its influence 

 on the intensity of the Norwegian stream. Altogether the hydro- 

 graphic conditions in the Faeroe-Shetland channel are very complex, 

 and it has been, and is still, a task of much difliculty to unravel the 

 course of the currents in this locality. 



After passing the Faeroes the Norwegian stream flows on to the 

 north-east, covering a variable area of the surface of the Norwegian 

 sea with water which is warmer and Salter than that which lies beneath. 

 Passing the meridian 25° E. it then rounds North Cape and enters 

 the Barentz Sea, The Pussian hydrographers have investigated the 

 physical conditions of this area with great success,* and have shown 

 that this North Cape current of Atlantic water and its ramiflcations 

 possess boundaries as constant geographically as those of rivers. 

 Annually the remote Barentz Sea is invaded by a heat wave, the result 

 of the seasonal fluctuation of the Norwegian stream. The cold season 

 or winter of this sea is in June. Beginning in that month is the inflow 

 of Atlantic water, which attains its maximum intensity in November. 

 In the interval between June and November the temperature of the 

 bottom water in the Barentz Sea has been raised from V C. to about 

 6° C, and corresponding variations in the salinity of the water have 



• Oceanographische Studien u. d. Jlavfiut:: Afrrr. I'otciiiunn's Mittheilungcn, 1904, 

 p. 46. Alao Iluppls. cl I'roc.-verb., vol. iii., 1905, i\ 3. 



