VEGA-EXPEDITIONENS VETENSKAPLIGA APIJETEX. 347 



On tlie map [plate 24] we can follow tlie variations of tern - 

 perature still more easily. From the description of Midden- 

 dorff we ouglit to have expected, tbat the Vega, after a traverse 

 of some days through the Bareutz sea in relatively warm water, 

 would have encountered a broad stripe of cold water 60 or 

 70 nautic miles from the coast of Novaya Zemlya. Instead 

 the temperature rose from + 4°.8 C to + 9°.8 and + 6^.4 during 

 the voyage along the coast of Novaya Zemlya and Wajgatch 

 on the 29'^ and 30^^ July. 



It is quite impossible in this case to ascribe the high teni- 

 peratures of this part of the sea to the inflnence of the Gulf- 

 stream, as Middendorff is prone to do, because the numbers 

 registered in the journal on the 29*^ and 30'^'' Jul}' are higher 

 than the temperature of the western part of the Barentz sea. 

 Besides, we see from the table, that the salfness of the ivater di- 

 minishes as its temperature increases. This effect can certainly 

 not be due to the Gulf-stream. 



The most plausible explanation seems to be, that the warm 

 water at the surface is due to the outflow from the Russian 

 rivers, especially the Petchora, together with the creeks and 

 rivulets on Novaya Zemlya ^ and Waigatch. 



We can gain an idea as to the powei'ful influence of the 

 waters from the Petchora upon the surrounding sea from 

 some observations of the Holland expedition in 1881. 



Immediately north of the Timan coast, at 69" 6' Lat. N. 

 55° 11' Long. on the 31'^ July 1881, the temperature of the 

 water at the surface was + 6°.o C [spec. weight = l.oiss] and a 

 little farther to the north. Lat. 69° 23', Long. 54° 50' (the fol- 

 lowing day), it was found = + 9°.i C [spec. weight = l.oiooj. 



But the outflow from the Petchora, lilve that of rivers in 

 general, does not extend its warming influence to the lower 

 strata. The Holland expedition found the temperature at the 

 bottom on the banks outside the mouth of the Petchora - 

 = + 0°.5 C (depth = 9 m.) and = — 0°.8 C (depth = 29 m.). 



We can trace the warming and diluting effect of the 

 outflow from the Petchora, and adjacent rivers at the coast, 



' The remarkably rapid effect of the summer heat upon the ice and 

 snow in these places has attracted the attention of several travellers as 

 Middendorff, Nordenskiöld a. O. 



'^ >De laag warm en vrij zoet water was dus zeer dunn en bestond 

 zeker lioofzakelijk uit water van de Petshora, die hier in de nabijheid in 

 zee valt.» Verslagen omtrent den vierden Tocht van de Willem Barentz 

 naar de ijszee in den zomer van 1881, page 48. 



