THE WEDDELL QUADRANT AND ADJACENT AREAS. 105 



Geographical Position of Areas Discussed. 



Weddell Quadrant — (See Plate V.). — The region extending from 90° W. to the 

 meridian of Greenwich. This area is divided into the following subsections : — 



Bellingshausen Sea. — The area to the west of Graham's Land south of 64° S., 

 extending to the 100th meridian of west longitude. Data for this region are entirely 

 derived from the observations taken during the drift of the " Belgica." 



Graham's Land. — Includes Graham's Land, Danco Land, Louis Philippe Land, and 

 the South Shetlands, by some geographers termed the Dirk Gherritz Archipelago. 

 Data comprise a year and nine months' observations at Snow Hill, seven months' 

 observations at Paulet Island, a year's observations at Wandel Island, and the summer 

 observations of Forster, Ross, Bruce, and others in the vicinity of the South Shet- 

 lands and Louis Philippe Land. 



Weddell Sea. — The region south of 60° S. between the meridian of Greenwich and 

 50° of west longitude. Data include five years' observations at the South Orkneys, 

 and the summer observations, extending over several months, made by Weddell, Ross, 

 Biscoe, and particularly by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, which initiated 

 the South Orkney series. 



Biscoe Sea. — This region, from the meridian of Greenwich to 40° B., although 

 outside the specific area under discussion, is sometimes referred to. Data are available 

 from the Expeditions of Moore, Biscoe, and the " Valdivia " and " Challenger." 



South Atlantic. — The area discussed is that portion west of the meridian of 

 Greenwich lying south of 40° S. Data from ships are very scanty for some 

 portions, especially in the region 40° to 60° S., between 0° and 30° W., as well 

 as from 50° to 60° S., between longitudes of 30° and 40° W. On the other 

 hand, observations covering four years are available from South Georgia Island in 

 lat. 54° 30' S., and covering seven years from the Falkland Islands in 51° 41' S. 



South America. — South of 50° S. is represented by observations from numerous 

 stations in Chili, Tierra del Fuego, and Patagonia, including many strictly insular 

 situations such as Evangelists Island at the Pacific entrance to the Straits of Magellan, 

 and Staten Island, and the neighbouring New Year's Island a little north-east of Cape 

 Horn. Returns from a few places on the Pacific and the Atlantic side of the continent 

 in from 40° to 43° S. are also given. In addition to the land observations, there is 

 a large mass of data for both oceans in the publications of the London and other 

 meteorological offices. 



General Climatic Features. 



The general climatic features of the region under discussion, viz. from 40° to 

 70° S., may be briefly summarised as follows. Beginning with the mainland of South 

 America, we note that the two most northerly coast stations on the Pacific side, Ancud 

 and Gallera, have a large rainfall, and, relatively speaking, much cloud. The rainfall 



