l895- ^'o. 9- IIVDR.-BIOI.. STUDIES OF THE NORW FISHERIES. }/ 



Spring. In what has been previously mentioned it has been pointed 

 out in several places, how the hydrographical conditions in the Spring 

 represent a transition from Winter to Summer. 



As the most characteristic signs of Spring it must be pointed 

 out that: 



1. The Atlantic Water, in b\- the Norwegian West Coast, commences 

 to rise towards the surface. 



2. The Baltic Current pushes its wa\- along the coast with great force, 

 and that it gets heated so that it soon becomes warmer than the 

 salter currents of the ocean (up to 6 " and 7 0). 



3. That the thick layers of the Winter's Bank Water begin to dis- 

 appear as they, probably, partly become mixed with and converted 

 to North Sea Water, and partly, also, become diluted w ith and con- 

 verted to that of the Baltic. 



4. That the temperature conditions are especially characterized by a 

 minimum at a greater or lesser depth below the surface. 



Resume. During the Siunmcr July — August^ the Baltic Current, 

 with a low amount of saline contents, inundates the surface of the 

 Christiania Fjord, the Cattegat and Skagerak, and flows along the 

 West Coast of Norway, having a breadth of at least 80 miles ^. It is 

 freshest in the Christiania Fjord {22 to 24 per 1000), whilst it, gradually, 

 towards the West and Nortliward, becomes mixed with salter water. 

 Off the West Coast, its salineness probably averages 27 to 31 pr. 1000. 

 In the deep, far from land, it is of but trifling thickness (10 to 20 

 mètres, Pettersson and Ekman), whilst in by the West Coast of Nor- 

 way, and in the Christiania Fjord it is from 40 to 50 mètres {Investi- 

 gations from the North are wanting). Beneath the Baltic Current there 

 lies the Bank Water, but a few metres in thicknes, whilst the Atlantic 

 Water, in by the land, rises up to a depth below the surface of 100 

 metres (at least 150 to 200 mètres higher than it is met with during the 

 W^inter\ 



During the Autumn, the strength of the Baltic Current diminishes. 

 Under the influence of strong Westerly winds it becomes mixed with 

 the North Sea Water, thus forming thick layers of Bank Water, while, at 



1 The miles given here arc geographical. 



