KONGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLIN6AR. BAND. 20. N:0 5. 31 



From »Meddelelser om Gr5nland» I borrow the following statements, which show 

 that in bays on the west coast of Greenland the temperature of the water at the sur- 

 face is considerably lower at the mouth than in the interior of the bay, and at the 

 same time that in the interior of deep bays the temperature of the water decreases 

 strongly and rapidly towards the depth. 



The temperature of the water near the mouth of Nagsugtok Bay Lat. 67° 32' N. 

 Long. 53° 28' W. July ll:th at fathom was from 2°,o to 2°,3; in the interior of the 

 same bay Lat. N. 67° 47' Long. 52° 22' W. in July: 



at fathoms + 8°,8 C. 



» 5 » + 2°,8 » 



» 10 » + l°,i » 



» 20 » + 0°,9 » 



» 30 » + l°,o » ') 



According to the observations of the second German expedition, the temperature 

 of the sea at the surface during the month of August on the east coast of Greenland 

 along Shannon, Pendulum, and Sabine Isles (Lat. 74° 30' — 75° 30' N.) varies between 

 + 2°,o and ^ 1°,6 C. On examining the temperature of the water beneath the winter 

 ice, it was found to be 



1869 October 3:d — 2°,2 C. 



» » 29:th — 1°,9 » (at 27 fms) 



» November ll:th — 2°,2 » 



1870 January 20:th — 2°,i » 



» February 18:th — 2°,5 » 



» May 21:st _ _ — 1°,9 » ') 



All these facts now set forth rnay be condensed, I think, as follows: in the Arctic 

 Sea proper, i. e. the Greenland Sea, the eastern Murman Sea, the Siberian Sea, the 

 American Arctic Sea, and Baffin Bay, the average temperature of the surface water in 

 the middle of summer is about as high as or lower than in the Norwegian Polar Sea 

 during winter (Dec. — Febr.), and at that depth where the richest marine vegetation is 

 to be found, it does not rise in general above 0° C. at any time of the year. This 

 difference of temperature between the Norwegian Polar Sea and the other above-mentioned 

 parts of the Arctic Sea, is assuredly the most important cause, though it may not be 

 the only one, of the essential difference shown by the Flora of the Norwegian Polar 

 Sea as to its general character, in comparison with that of the rest of the Arctic Sea. 



The temperature of the air is probably also an element that ought to be noticed 

 in accounting for the peculiarities of the arctic marine vegetation. 



Of course the temperature of the air cannot exercise any influence but on those 

 portions of the vegetation which may come in contact with the air, that is to say, the 

 vegetation of the litoral zone. Possibly the great poverty and scantiness of this vegetation 

 depend in some part on too cold airs sweeping over the exposed litoral zone at certain times, 



>) Cp. Jensen, Gronl. Medd. 2. p. 207. 



2) Cp. KoLDEWEY, Zweite deutsche Polarf. 2, p. 618-620. 



