HYDROGR. SECTION — APPENDIX D ( 56 ) 
hydrographie conditions in the Channel so that when horizontal surfaces are consi- 
dered the water and the plankton contained in it vary in a somewhat important 
degree. A more exact knowledge of these variations has been obtained through 
the investigations. | 
VI. North Atlantic Ocean, Norwegian Sea: 
The investigations now proceeding in the North Atlantie Ocean and in the 
Norwegian Sea have clearly demonstrated the general system of currents in these 
regions, and have in important respects corrected the views formerly held, while 
on the other hand certain suggestions formerly doubtful have been proved to be 
correct. It has been proved that the chief body of Atlantic water in the Norwe- 
gian Sea must pass through the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, and that only compara- 
tively small masses of such water proceed northwards between the Faeroes and 
Iceland, being checked there by the East-Icelandic Polar Current. From the 
Atlantic current, which proceeds directly through the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, 
branches are sent off to the North Sea, N. of Scotland and N. of Shetland. The 
main current now continues its way along the continental slope and the banks off 
the west coast of Norway. To the S. W. of Lofoten, the western part of the 
current seems to separate from the remaining portion and to set off to N. W. and 
W., by and by acquiring a southerly direction; this water will thus perform a 
cyclonic circulation in the southern half of the Norwegian Sea. In the centre of 
this cyclone the water-layers seem to remain almost motionless ; the plankton fauna 
is here characteristic, and differs to some extent from that of the surrounding 
localities. 
In the Greenland Sea (between Jan Mayen, Spitsbergen, and Greenland) a 
similar cyclone seems to be formed by water from the northernmost branch of 
the Atlantic current which proceeds along the banks off Bear Island and Spitsbergen. 
In the Greenland Sea, N. or N.W. of Jan Mayen, water, identical with the cold 
bottom water of the Norwegian Sea, is found at the surface. The Atlantic water 
is separated from the coasts of Iceland and Norway by layers belonging to the 
coastal currents. The Icelandic coast-water streams round the island in an anti- 
cyclonic direction. These conditions agree completely with the distribution of 
the plankton. The Norwegian coastal current moves uninterruptedly along the coast 
from S. to N. 
As a rule the Atlantic current in the southern part of the Norwegian Sea 
is, further, separated from the proper bottom-water by a relatively thin layer _ 
probably originating from the Western part of the sea, near the Polar Current; 
