1906. No. 3. AMUNDSEN'S OCEANOGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS IN 1901. 43 
observations from the “Fram’s” Stat. 3, on July 24, 1893, in the same 
region. 
Depth i Met | | 66 | 80 | 
] > | 130 
enge epth i Metres | o 20 40 Oo 100 120 3 
RT ET | 
ae ne Temp. °C. | 3'69 2'9I |—1°32 DET —1'63 |—1'6 | Bottom 
48° 22' E: Å | | | | | 
Salin. °/50 | 3431 | 3437 | 3472 | | 3470 | 34°76| 38°88 | 
The conditions were then more like those of July 1900, and Aug. 1903 
than of August 1904, but the thick layer of bottom-water was colder than 
at any other time. The summer of 1904 has obviously been an exceptional 
year, in this region, with unusually high temperatures and low salinities 
especially in the upper strata. 
All these stations are situated on the shallow platform southwest of 
Gooseland, and some of them (Stats. 247, 248; 8, and 9) are near the 
nortwestern end of the submarine channel along the southern coast of 
Novaya Zemlya. It is evident that in this region the horizontal circu- 
lation along the bottom is very slow. 
Breitfuss’s Station 7 (Aug. 3, 1904) forms a most interesting excep- 
tion from the others; there is no trace of the cold bottom-water, the 
temperature near bottom being 1'10" C. The explanation is probably 
that this Station is near the edge of the submarine valley extending 
eastwards into this region from the great central depression (see Fig. 1, 
p. 24). Along this valley there is evidently a more rapid horizontal 
circulation of warmer water from the Atlantic Current. 
A striking fact borne out by a comparison between the above Sta- 
tions is that the salinities at almost all depths, both north and south of 
Wollebzk’s Station, are very much lower on August, 1903 and 1904, and 
also in September 1900, than they were on May 31, 1900. The diffe- 
rence is especially great near the surface, but it is considerable even 
in deep strata. 
The observations made at the above Stations prove clearly that the 
cold bottom-water at the southern Stations cannot have been carried 
thither by a cold bottom-current along the coast, from the north, as 
some writers have been prone to believe. If such were the case it 
should be possible to find this water preeminently at the northern Sta- 
tions. The unevenness of the bottom to the north would a prior: make 
the existence of such a regular bottom-current in the shallow sea along 
the coast highly improbable. Local differences in the salinities of the 
bottom-water, also prove that this water does not form any regular 
bottom-current. And the vertical distribution of temperature and salinity 
