METEOROLOGY OF AMERICAN ANTARCTIC 



307 



The mean value of the temperature at the Falkland Islands is 

 nearly a degree less than the temperature at stations situated in the 

 same latitude on the continent. This lowering of the temperature is 

 due to a cold current coming from the Antarctic which continues into 

 this latitude, the northward-flowing current from Weddell Sea, whose 

 existence has been proved by the drift of the Deutschland and the 

 Endurance better than by any oceanographical reasoning. 



Similarly South Georgia, although on the same parallel, has a lower 

 temperature than Tierra del Fuego by 3° to 4°. There the influence 

 of this Antarctic current is still more evident. South Georgia is a 

 truly polar land, surrounded by ice for several months a year. 



If we pass on to stations of strictly Antarctic character we get the 

 following mean annual values: 



Temperature, then, does not decrease regularly according to lat- 

 itude. The position of each station with relation to the neighboring 

 ocean is of considerable importance and, in a large measure, modifies 

 the temperature mean. The observations in 1909 at Petermann Island, 

 which is almost completely surrounded by water, and in 1 903-1 904 at 

 Snow Hill, which is continually surrounded by ice, show this clearly. 



The wind regimen must also have some bearing. The stations on 

 the western coast of Graham Land, where north winds are frequent, 

 enjoy milder temperatures than the Weddell Sea stations, where as a 

 rule south winds prevail. 



The temperature variations differ so much from year to year 

 that in order to obtain a more exact idea of mean temperatures it is 

 necessary to select for comparison stations where the observations 

 were simultaneous. From this comparison, taking Punta Arenas as a 

 base, there result the following deductions: 



(i) Punta Arenas compared with the neighboring coast stations 

 exhibits a clearly continental character (higher temperatures in 

 summer, lower temperatures in winter). At the Falkland Islands the 

 temperature in summer is 2° or 3° less than the temperature at Punta 

 Arenas, and in winter 1° to 2° more. 



(2) At South Georgia, which is all the year round subjected to the 

 influence of the polar current, the temperature is always colder than 

 at Punta Arenas, by 4° in summer and by 2° to 3° in winter. 



