VALLEYS BETWEEN GREENLAND AND SCOTLAND 219 



plateau of this region is shown, the writers have given no attention to 

 the relatively small valleys, in size and characters like those of rivers, 

 too small to he represented on the ordinary maps, except by undue ex- 

 aggeration. It is these valleys and their enlargement into submari'^e 

 bays which are the principal source of interest to the writer. In xhis 

 region the North Atlantic plateau (the Wyville-Thomson ridge) rises 

 to separate its basin from that of the Arctic. 



Iceland is bordered by a subcoastal plain, on the west reaching to a 

 breadth of 70 miles ; but it is deeply indented by submerged valleys, one 

 of which is 648 feet near its head, where the adjacent floor is submerged 

 only 84 feet. This canyon is traceable for 60 miles, with a depth of 600 

 feet below the coastal shelf itself, and then widens into an embay ment. 

 Similar features are repeated round the whole island, some of which are 

 shown on the map (plate 20). From recently made Danish soundings it 

 would seem that the great fiord traced (see map) north of Iceland should 

 enter the Arctic embayment west of that shown on map as the one with 

 which it connects. Doctor Nansen is now extending these studies. 



Between Greenland and Iceland the submarine plateau rises to within 

 about 1,500 feet of sealevel. except in a channel where the depth attains 

 1,968 feet. The submarine plateau is here incised by amphitheaters, 

 coves, or gulfs to the depth of 600 to 1,200 feet, and these widen out and 

 become very deep valleys. Thus one can be traced from the col for 150 

 miles, where its depth becomes 3,000 or 4,000 feet below the submarine 

 plateau. The fiord of Scoresby sound has a depth of 1,800 feet far within 

 the landlocked mouth. Its lower part does not show so great a depth, 

 supposedly on account of glacial or iceberg drift. In latitude 74 de- 

 grees north is a finely shown cove attaining a depth of 5,520 feet, 

 where the adjacent plateau is submerged 720 feet. 



VALLEYS BETWEEN ICELAND AND THE FAROE ISLANDS 



Between Iceland and the Faroe islands the plateau reaches to within 

 1,500 to 1,662 feet of sealevel. Near Iceland it is incised by a fine 

 cul-de-sac, obtaining a depth of 4,092 feet, where the floor at its head is 

 960 feet below the surface, and beside it 2,100 feet; thus the submarine 

 valley itself has a depth of 1,992 feet. North of Faroe islands is an 

 embayment reaching to a depth of 7,290 feet, while an extension of the 

 plateau toward the east is covered by 1,224 feet of water. Near Iceland 

 the southern side of this ridge is marked by another cul-de-sac at a depth 

 of 4,092 feet below the surface, or some 2,000 feet deep in the plateau itself. 



VALLEYS BETWEEN THE FAROE AND SHETLAND ISLANDS 



Between Faroe islands and the Shetlands the Nortli Atlantic plateau 

 is more deeply incised than in the stretches to the westward. Here is an 



