22 0. Nordgaard. [No. 8 



the coast sea by the circumstance that the continental influence 

 (cooling, arrival of fresh water) makes itself less felt in the coast 

 sea than in the fjords. I have before mentioned that the Alten- 

 fjord may prove to be less arctic than for instance Kvænangen 

 and Lyngen; it will have to be left to later investigations to see how 

 this is. — About conditions east of the North Cape one will get the 

 best information by my quoting Såes (p. 5): "Not till east of the 

 North Cape the arctic element of the fauna becomes predominating 

 also out towards the ocean and in the greater depths. The matter 

 is that the influence of the Atlantic current here gradually decrea- 

 ses according as the coast-line bends off in a south-easterly di- 

 rection, and the Varanger fjord, completely like the Vestfjord, and, 

 as the latter, rather to be considered a branch of the ocean than 

 a fjord, shows from the very shore and down to the greatest 

 depths a perfectly pure and unmixed arctic fauna.'' — From the 

 measurements of the North Ocean Expedition in 1878 and my 

 own in the winter of 1899 an idea may be formed of the hy- 

 drographical conditions at this part of our coast. 



Professor Såes, in his above quoted work as well as in the reports 

 of the North Ocean Expedition, mentions the Salten fjord situated 

 south of Bodo as striking for its "remarkably pure and unmixed arctic 

 fauna" when its southern situation is considered. When this zoological 

 fact is joined to the circumstance that the North Ocean Expedition 

 on August 17th, 1877 measured a bottom temperature of 3o,2 C. 

 at the depth of 494 m., we receive a distinct hint of the cause of 

 this condition. I conclude that the Salten fjord is a shut-off basin. 

 For if Gulfstream water of any considerable bulk penetrated into 

 it, the bottom temperature would be 6 — 7 degrees, as in the Vest- 

 fjord. In spite of my having no observations as yet from the 

 Salten fjord, I am nevertheless apt to tbink that the Salten fjord 

 also resembles the specially arctic fjords in having a variable bot- 

 tom temperature. Professor MoHN has (I, p. 90)' given a table of the 

 bottom temperatures of Norwegian fjords. In the latter the Hard- 

 anger, Oster, Sogne, Nord, Trondhjems, Folden, Vest, Ofoten 

 fjords and others ^) are entered with a bottom temperature of 6^ — 

 70,2. The Rånen fjord on the contrary is put at 4o,3, the Salten- 

 fjord at 30,4, and the Alten fjord at 4o,0. Of these the Salten has 

 a pure arctic fauna, according to Såes. The Eanen, as far as I 

 know, has not as yet been investigated as to fauna, nor is this 



1) The Korsfjord and Byfjord of Bergen may also be in the number 



