HYDROGRAPHY. 



»35 



At the stations 20, 21 og 22 the influence of the East Greenland Polar Current is manifesting 

 itself by the fact of minima of temperature and salinity being found near the surface at these stations. 

 Also at the stations 38, 37 and 36 ice-water is found at the surface, which is proved by the low sali- 

 nities. The two stations 36 and 37 are lying at a greater distance from the coast of Greenland than 

 the rest of the stations, which accounts for the higher degree of temperature and salinity. 



The under-layer in the Davis Strait is to all appearances water from the western part of the 

 Atlantic, and that this water has got so low temperatures is most likely due to the influence of the 

 Labrador Current. As the bottom temperatures in the Davis Strait are lower than those in the basin 

 of the Denmark Strait, it is not very likely that the under-layer in the Davis Strait receives any 

 supply of importance from the basin-water. 



We know, however, that the East Greenland Polar Current flows round Cape Farewell, and 

 runs north into the Davis Strait, and we may no doubt make the assumption that the part of the 

 Irmingcr Ctirrent which is forming the under-layer of the Polar Current, is carried along by the 

 East Greenland Polar Current. This water is therefore to all appearances cooled to such a degree 

 that it is able to contribute to the formation of the under-layer in the Davis Strait. 



As to hydrography, in so far as the Davis Strait is concerned, the observations and determina- 

 tions of the Ingolf expedition are too few, and confined to so small a part of the Strait , that they do 

 not add anything new to what is already known in this respect. All the observations and deter- 

 minations are fully in harmony with the view of the currents, which Cpt. C. F. Wandcl 

 has advanced in «Meddelelser om Gronland* VII, 1891, and they must therefore rather be regarded 

 as a supplement to the observations and determinations made by the cruiser Fylla in 1884, 1886 and 

 1889 than otherwise. 



Only one point of importance appears from the observations of the Ingolf expedition in the 

 Davis Strait, and this is, that temperature and salinity in the depth is not subject to 

 alteration in any appreciable degree from one year to the other. This fact, to which 

 Cpt. Wandcl already has directed the attention (1. c. page 58) is further elucidated by examples in the 

 table of determinations on the other side. 



It must be admitted that the places where the investigations and researches were made, do not 

 fully coincide, but the difference that has been found between the observations for the depth in 1889 

 and 1895 is not greater than that it may be considered as due to shifting of place and observational 

 errors. Owing to this, we may then take it for granted that temperature and salinity in the depth 

 cannot have altered much during the years that have elapsed between the observations. If this be 

 the case in a strait like the Davis Strait, where three different deep-sea-currents are flowing side by 

 side in a proportionally small tract of the sea, in so far as breadth regards, how much the more likely 

 will it not be to suppose that this in a still higher degree applies to the deeper layers of the open sea. 



