OCEAN CURRENTS 193 



of the American Admirai Melville, who prepared fifty spindle- 

 shaped buoys, which were set ont by whalers in the summers 

 of 1899 and 1901 in Beaufort Sea and near Wrangel Island. 



Four of thèse were recovered — two near the locaHty of 

 libération ; one drifted from Cape Barrow (North America), 

 September 13, 1899, to the north coast of Iceland (June 7, 

 1905) ; the other from the mouth of the Mackenzie River near 

 Cape Bathurst to the Norwegian coast near Hammerfest. 



Siberian timber frequentl-y drifts across the Polar basin to 

 the north of Spitsbergen or to the East Greenland coast. 

 Nathorst collected drift timber in 1898 and 1899 on Bear 

 Island, Spitsbergen, Jan Mayen, and East Greenland, and by 

 far the greater proportion was found to be of Siberian origin. 



The Pacific Currents. 



There are North and South Equatorial Currents and an 

 Equatorial Counter-Current, as in the Atlantic. 



The North Equatorial Current is a westerly drift caused by 

 the north-east trade winds, and it covers the whole.stretch of 

 the North Pacific from the Revilla Gigedos Islands (IVrexico) 

 to the Philippines, a distance of 7,500 sea-miles. Thé southern 

 boundary lies in summer in 10°' N. Lat. and in winter in 5° N. 

 Like the corresponding turrent in the Atlantic, the velocity is 

 slight, averaging 12 to 18 sea-miles per day. This current 

 bends through the Balingtang Channel into the China Sea; 

 part of it flows round both sides' of the island of Formosa to 

 take part in the Japanese (Kuro Siwo) Current. 



The South Equatorial Current also resembles the corre- 

 sponding current in the Atlantic, like which it attains its 

 greatest velocity on and just north of the Equator. The 

 Southern Equatorial Current is stronger than the Northern, 

 20 miles per day being the average, though much higher 

 velocities, up to 100 miles per day, hâve been recorded. It 

 stretches from 85° W. Long, to 135° E. Long., a distance of 

 8,500 miles, so that it is three or four times as long as the 

 corresponding Atlantic Current. A branch runs through 



