26 



FRIDTJOF NANSEN. 



M.-N. Kl. 



considerably higher temperatures. I cannot but think that the cooHng of 

 the surface of these fjords during the winter, goes on quite as actively as 

 in Cross Bay and Ice Fjord, and there is probably more ice formed in 

 the northern than in the southern fjords. It is possible that the more 

 rapid formation of ice in the autumn and winter protects the underlying 

 water from being cooled to the same degree as in the more southern 

 fjords; but the chief cause of the difference in temperature must be the nature 

 of the water on the shelf outside the fjords. 



2h 25 26 



29 



JO. I'll/. IZ 



Fig. 27 & 28. Sections across the mouths of Wood Bay and Wijde Bay (see Fig. i) 

 Horizontal Scale i : 250,000. Vertical Scale i : 2,000. 



The Spitsbergen Polar Current, coming from the east round South 

 Cape, and running northwards along the west coast, covers the shelf along this 

 coast with comparatively cold water, as far north as Cross Bay. This 

 water of the shelf is naturally much cooled by the radiation of heat from 

 the sea-surface during the winter. On the other hand the water over the 

 shelf off the north-west and north coast of Spitsbergen is intermixed with 

 the water of the warm Atlantic Current, and there is a more active horizon- 

 tal circulation preventing the formation of an intermediate layer w^ith such 

 low temperatures as on the shelf oft' the west coast farther south. Owing 

 to the tidal currents, the water covering the shelf, is carried in and out 



