igo A TEXTBOOK OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



finmarchicus ; and for the Atlantic water in the north 

 Pseudocalanus. 



The Norwegian coastal current runs up along the coast in 

 the same general direction as the Florida Current. It is a 

 prolongation of the current coming from the Baltic, with the 

 addition of a considerable volume of land water. Its velocity 

 is weak, reaching in summer only 5 to 6 miles a day ; in winter, 

 with prevailing south-west winds, its velocity increases. The 

 pulsations of the Florida Current have already been men- 

 tioned. In some years the current runs stronger, in other 

 years weaker, and the variation of the current influences the 

 climate of the British Isles and the Scandinavian peninsula to 

 a marked degree. In particular Pettersson has investigated 

 the correlation between the oceanic circulation and the climate 

 and agriculture of Norway. The temperature of the sea-water 

 off the Norwegian lighthouses is connected with the blossom- 

 ing of the coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) in Central Sweden. In 

 earlier years only these coastal temperatures were available, 

 but since 1900, owing to the International Fishery Investiga- 

 tions, we have records of the extent of the Florida Current 

 drift in Norwegian and other North Atlantic waters. The 

 study of the records made on a line west from the Sognefiord 

 (Norway) and a comparison with the growth of land plants is 

 interesting. jThe growth of the Norwegian pine for the follow- 

 ing year and the autumn crops of barley and legumes depend 

 on the sea temperature. J A high temperature of the Atlantic 

 drift-water in May is followed by a good yield of the autumn 

 crops on shore, as well as by an early spawning of the cod on 

 the Lofoten Banks in the following spring and a diminution 

 of the pack-ice in Barents Sea two years later. 



There is a somewhat similar circulation to that shown in 

 the sketch (Fig. 41) north of Jan Mayen. The East Greenland 

 Current sends out a tongue of cold water of 34*8 per mille 

 salinity and -i'3 C. temperature. In this area the Nor- 

 wegian hunters every March capture large numbers of the 

 Greenland seal (Phoca groenlandica). The Atlantic Current 



