I915 No. 2. SPITSBERGEN WATERS. 59 



At the Surface la.ô cm sec. towards S ôa" W 



, 10 metres 1.9 , , N44''E 



. 20 ,5.0, , N 8'^E 



, 50 . 4.8 . , N57'*E 



, 100 , 26, , X 67*'E 



t 



It is noticed that the values for 20. 50, and icx) metres differ some- 

 what iVom the values found above Ipp. 55 and 56I at the same depths for 

 the whole time of observation. 



A remarkable result of this construction would be that while the ship 

 drifted, v\ith the ice and the surface-layer, towards S 62 '^ W with an aver- 

 age velocity of about 12.6 cm. per second, the water at 10 metres would 

 have moved in almost the opposite direction, towards N44^E. with a mean 

 velocity of 1.9 cm. per second. 



This result may seem absurd, especially considering that the move- 

 ments at 20, 50, and 100 metres were so very different. 



It was pointet out above that the observations at 10 metres are not 

 numerous enough for the construction of trustworthy curves, and there 

 might have been many irregularities which our curves do not show. On the 

 other hand, if we look at the central vector diagram for 10 metres (Fig. 

 381, we are struck by the fact that the majority of observations lie in the 

 quadrant between south and west, which should indicate that the relative 

 movement at this depth has, to a very great extent, had a north-easterly 

 direction, and it seems somewhat ditBcult to believe that this should only 

 havet)een quite accidental. It would consequently indicate that the actual 

 movement of the water at 10 metres was very different from that of the 

 drifting ice and the top layer of the sea. 



Even at 5 metres the movement of the water seemed to be very 

 different from that of the surface-water and the ice, as could often be seen 

 if one watched the movements of the fan of the current-meter when it was 

 lowered through the clear water; but only one regular observation was 

 taken at this depth, namely, on August 5th, 8.15^ ^ — 22 p. m. 



The explanation of the great difference between the movement of the 

 water at 10 metres and that of the ice and of the top layer of the sea 

 may be that at 10 metres there was a reaction-current rvmning in a direc- 

 tion more or less opposite to that of the surface-current. At Station 41, 

 at 10 metres, there was water of very nearly the same kind as that of the 

 surface, with a salinity of a little more than 32 '''00 and a temperature of 

 about 0.1 •'C. The density [at) was about 25.90. This water-layer, some- 

 times more than 10 metres thick, and sometimes less I cf. Aug. 19th, 3.20 

 p. m.>, seems to be approximately homogeneous, being composed" of water 



