W. H. Hudleston — E. Margin of N. Atlantic Basin. 101 



lies almost exactly on the meridian of Greenwich. The most 

 remarkable depth is that known as the Swedish deep, attaining 

 2,650 fathoms in the narrows about midway between Spitzbergen 

 and Greenland. The average slope of the sea bed here is stated 

 by Mohn to be 1 in 129, or less than half a degree ; but such 

 a general statement gives no idea of the inclination of the marginal 

 slopes off the west coast of Spitzbergen. Thus, about 60 miles 

 from the shore, off the mouth of Ice Sound, the edge of the 

 Continental platform is well marked in 120 fathoms, and 

 succeeded by a rapid marginal slope towards the abyss. From 

 Sydkap to Bear Island the suboceanic slope is fairly well marked, 

 the edge being mostly in 200 fathoms. Off the mouth of the 

 Barents Sea the slopes are gentle, the edge being in about 280 

 fathoms. But as we approach the Lofodens the contours begin to 

 draw in much closer, and the steepest part of the suboceanic slope 

 off the coast of Norway occurs hereabouts (Vesteraalseg). The 

 depth increases from 100 to 1,500 fathoms in a distance of 22^ 

 nautical miles, giving, according to Mohn, a slope of 1 in 16 or 3|°. 

 The general Norwegian submerged shelf, as before observed, has 

 its edge near the 200-fatliom contour, which runs rather far out 

 to sea and again curves towards the land opposite Eomsdal ; ou 

 the other hand, the 100-fathom line hugs the coast of Norway 

 pretty closely. 



The Norwegian Channel, sometimes called the Eiver of Norway, 

 is a curious feature, whose origin has given rise to a considerable 

 amount of discussion. As a matter of fact it is a depression of 

 considerable width, which laps round the southern lobe of Norway 

 from the Skager Eack to beyond the mouth of the Sogne Fjord. 

 It has also, I believe, been called the 'Eiver of the Baltic,' and 

 regarded as the submerged channel of a watercourse which once 

 drained the Baltic area when that was dry land. Unfortunately 

 for this theory the deepest part of the Norwegian Channel lies in 

 the Skager Eack off Arendal, where a depth of 443 fathoms is 

 recorded by Mohn, whilst the Channel is only 160 fathoms deep 

 off Bergen on the Atlantic side, between Norway and Shetland. 

 The ' Eiver of the Baltic,' therefore, must have had some difficulty 

 in draining towards the Atlantic under these circumstances. 



Speaking generally, one would say that the basin of the Norwegian 

 Atlantic is more spoon-shaped than that of the British Atlantic : 

 in other words, the marginal slopes appear to be less steep on the 

 whole. A low transverse elevation runs in a north-easterly direction 

 from Jan Meyen to Bear Island, almost athwart the main meridional 

 depression ; Jan Meyen Island itself is a huge volcanic pimple. 

 The steepest decline in the Norwegian sea was found north-west 

 of this island, where the depth reaches 1,040 fathoms at a distance 

 of only seven nautical miles from the land, corresponding to 

 a slope of 1 in 7, or 8°, being the direct continuation of the lava 

 slopes of the extinct volcano called the Beerenberg, On the south 

 side of the island the slopes are more gradual. It is evident that 

 in course of time this volcanic mass must have displaced an 



