Il8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 70 



POSSIBILITY OF A DISPLACEMENT OF THE OCEAN CURRENTS 



It must be taken into consideration that a fall or rise of the sur- 

 face temperature in the fields of the North Atlantic Ocean investi- 

 gated by us is not necessarily a proof of corresponding changes in 

 the temperature of the water-masses which are transported by the 

 ocean currents. It may be that the changes rest merely on a dis- 

 placement of these masses. The surface layers can for example 

 be driven farther toward the south by the winds and yet at the same 

 time the currents may be more rapid and their temperature in fact 

 as high or even higher than before. In order to get a clearer view 

 of these matters as they progress in the different years, we must 

 have simultaneous records over the surface of the entire Atlantic 

 Ocean and even then it would be difficult to decide if such a dis- 

 placement actually took place. If we take the years 1899 and 1903 

 when the wind circulation over the Atlantic Ocean was particularly 

 lively, we might consider that the Gulf Stream drift was displaced 

 further southward. Yet in spite of this it could very well be inten- 

 sified and consequently the temperature in the water-masses of the 

 Gulf Stream might be raised and this would in its turn produce a 

 rise of temperature in the easterly region of the ocean where these 

 warmer water-masses are carried toward the north. 



But consider the year 1904. Very low temperature prevailed over 

 the whole region we have investigated both west and east and can 

 it be believed that the current was again displaced further south? 

 Such an assumption appears to be very difficult to defend, since 

 we find also in the far south fields covered by the Dutch investiga- 

 tions and on the equator itself uncommonly low surface tempera- 

 tures, and it seems as if the surface of the whole North Atlantic 

 Ocean was in this year particularly low. 



INFLUENCE OF WINDS UPON THE AIR TEMPERATURE OVER 

 THE CONTINENTS 



By means of our investigations of the influence of air pressure 

 distribution, we have found that the air pressure or the winds have 

 a very great influence on the variations of the surface tempera- 

 tures of the ocean and also on the temperature of the air, but they 

 cannot be the sole infl-uences affecting these variations. This is 

 shown by the consideration of the variations of the air tempera- 

 ture over the continents on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 



That the air pressure distribution or the winds have a very great 

 effect on the variations of the air temperature over the continents 



