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V. — The Meteorology of the Weddell Quadrant and Adjacent Areas. 

 By Robert 0. Mossman. (With Five Plates.) 



(MS. received July 6, 1908. Read July 20, 1908. Issued separately June 9, 1909.) 



Having been struck by the evident importance of Antarctic phenomena in relation 

 to the climatic condition of lower latitudes, I have endeavoured in the following 

 discussion to give a complete representation of these conditions, and to trace their 

 bearing on the climate of sub-Antarctic and temperate zones. It is only now that 

 sufficient data are available for such a purpose. I have been singularly fortunate, 

 not only in the opportunities which I have had for obtaining access to valuable data, 

 but also in the possession of that " practical " knowledge which has resulted from 

 my two years' residence in the Antarctic. In any discussion of this nature it is 

 obviously an immense advantage to have studied in the field the conditions there 

 obtaining. This I have been able to do also for the Arctic during two voyages under- 

 taken for this specific purpose, thereby being enabled to appreciate the great diversity 

 in the fundamental conditions affecting the meteorology of the two Polar regions. 



In such an inquiry as this, in which an attempt is made to break new ground, it 

 is essential that the discussion should proceed on broad and general lines, in order that 

 the fundamental principles involved may not be obscured by minor and negligible 

 detail. Accordingly, I have restricted this inquiry to a discussion of the more 

 prominent elements of climate. 



No portion of the Antarctic affords such an excellent field for the study of 

 atmospheric conditions as that lying to the south and east of Cape Horn. During 

 recent years this area has been the principal centre of South Polar exploration, no less 

 than four expeditions having investigated the region lying between the meridian of 

 Greenwich and 100° of west longitude. Moreover, we have in the South Orkney 

 Station of the Argentine Meteorological Office the longest series of observations made 

 south of 55° S., while data from lower latitudes, covering in each case many years, are 

 also available for the numerous island and mainland stations of the Argentine and 

 Chilian Republics. Valuable supplementary material has been furnished by the various 

 summer voyages of Weddell, Ross, D'Urville, and others. 



The difficulties involved in this discussion are many, and will be readily recognised 

 by those who have engaged in work of a similar nature. Among these are the 

 comparative paucity of observations, the relatively great distance separating the spheres 

 of work of the different expeditions, and the general want of synchronism in the periods 

 covered by the observations. And yet, in spite of these difficulties and deficiencies, 

 an attempt must be made to co-ordinate and co-relate the available information if an 



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