24 KJELLMAN, THE ALGjE OF THE ARCTIC SEA. 



such a mass of ice cannot certainly be withstood by algae. And it ought to be re- 

 marked that the eastern shores of that inconsiderable group of isles which is situated 

 in the western month of the strait, were altogether without litoral algae, while such 

 plants were found to grow, although in little number, on the western shores, which 

 were evidently less exposed to drift-ice. 



The height of the tide is comparatively small in the Arctic Sea, and it is, more- 

 over, so equal in general in different parts of it, that even if the influence of the tidal 

 currents were another and a more powerful one than I have tried to show above, the 

 existing difference in the height of the tide cannot be considered as having contributed 

 essentially to the existing difference in the physiognomy of the vegetation within larger 

 tracts of the Arctic Sea proper, that is to say, that sea which abounds in drift-ice 

 during summer. In the eastern part of the Siberian Sea and in the western part of 

 the American Arctic Sea the tides are scarcely perceptible. According to researches 

 made during the voyage of the Vega, the flood-tide at the wintering place Pitlekay ^) is 

 only 18 cm. At Point Barrow, according to Markham ^), it is only 7 inches. In the 

 eastern part of the American Arctic Sea it is somewhat higher: on the south coast of 

 Melville Island in Winter Harbour it averages 2 f. 6^ i. in May, 2 f. 7 i. in June, and 

 2 f. 8i i. in July ^). On the east coast of Greenland, at Sabine Island, according to 

 the observations of the second German Polar expedition, the height of the spring-tide 

 is on an average 4,2i Engl, feet, that of the neap-tide 1,86*). At Spitzbergen, according 

 to Doner and Nordenskiold, the spring-tide is 5 — 6 f., the neap-tide 3 f. 0- Sporer 

 states the flood-tide to rise 2 — 3 f. on the west coast of Novaya Zemlya, about 1 f. 4 i. 

 on the east coast ^). In the south-western part of Baffin Bay the height of the tide is 

 very considerable, about 30 feet '), if the statements made to Dickie are indeed reliable. 

 If such is the case, this tide ought to influence the general character of the vegetation 

 in a remarkable degree. 



The nature of the bottom. Whether the chemical composition of the bottom exer- 

 cises any influence on the marine vegetation or not, is a question that still remains 

 unanswered, and, in my opinion, it cannot be answered by means of the material 

 which we have at our disposition at present. But it is certain and undeniable that 

 the growth of marine algae, their distribution, richness, variety, and luxuriancy, are 

 essentially connected with and dependent on the physical nature of the bottom. There 

 are tracts of the bottom whose structure is such that algas do not grow and cannot 

 grow there, however favourable the other conditions may be, while, on the other hand, 

 others are clothed with a rich and luxuriant vegetation, although the physical circum- 

 stances are in other respects as unfavourable as possible for the development of a richer 

 Flora. Wherever the bottom is very loose, i. e. formed of mud, sand, and clay, algae 



•) See Nordenskiold, Vega-exp. 1. p. 76. 



') Makkham, Threshold, p. 221—222. 



^) See Pakry, Zweite Eeise, p. 376. 



*) See KoLDEWEY, Zweite deutsche Polarf. 2. p. 658. 



*) DuNER, NobdenskiOld, Spetsb. geogr. p. 11. 



*) Sporek, Nov. Semla, p. 57—58. 



') Dickie, Alg. Cumberl. p. 236. 



