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Part III. — Fifteenth Annual Beport 



i 



IX.— REPORT ON PHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS CARRIED 

 OUT ON BOARD H.M.S. ' RESEARCH/ DURING AUGUST 

 1896. By H. N. Dickson, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S. 



The observations made in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel by the officers 

 of H.M.S. 1 Research,' during August 1896, were undertaken with the view 

 of forming part of the continued physical survey of the North Sea and the 

 North Atlantic, instituted as an international scheme in 1893. The im- 

 portant share taken by the Fishery Board for Scotland in the first year's 

 work materially assisted in showing the value of the results to be obtained 

 from further and more extended observations, as well as the general 

 accuracy of the methods suggested by Professor Pettersson, and adopted by 

 his colleagues, in conducting the investigation. Since the publication of 

 my paper in the twelfth Report of the Fishery Board, the work of making 

 and collecting observations has been continued as circumstances per- 

 mitted. The directors of the Swedish and Norwegian work have been 

 specially active in the direction of research carried on by vessels detailed 

 for the purpose, while I have availed myself of opportunities offered by a 

 large number of observers to collect observations of surface temperature, 

 and samples of surface water, from all parts of the Atlantic north of 40° 

 N. lat. Papers have been published from time to time reporting on the 

 progress of the work,* and it may be said that the discussion of the 

 complex relations existing between the physical conditions in the sea 

 area investigated, and the meteorology, or rather climatology, of Western 

 Europe, has passed its preliminary stages, and has brought with it 

 important information, bearing not only on fishery questions, but on the 

 seasonal forecasting of the weather. 



While the observations made at the surface and below it in the North 

 Sea and its branches, when taken along with numerous surface observa- 

 tions in the Atlantic, seem to give a fairly adequate general view of the 

 physical changes occurring from season to season, the work of the 

 'Jackal' in 1893 and 1894 showed clearly that the information gained 

 about these two areas cannot be accurately combined unless we have a 

 detailed knowledge of the process of mixture of waters taking place in 

 the transitional region over the Wyville Thomson Ridge, and round the 

 western and northern border of the Continental shelf. The excellent 

 work done by H.M.S. 1 Research ' during last summer is accordingly a 

 contribution of the greatest value, not only in itself, but as a factor which 

 immensely increases the importance of the simultaneous observations 

 made elsewhere. It is a matter of regret that the date of publication of 

 this report makes it impossible to compare the observations of the 

 ' Research ' fully with those obtainable from other sources, as there has 

 not been sufficient time to collect and properly arrange all the material ; 

 but the work shows for itself the extreme interest of the changes con- 

 stantly taking place in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, and bears sufficient 

 testimony to the enthusiasm and skill of the officers under whose direction 

 it was carried out. 



* See Dr J. Hjort, Studies of the Norwegian Fisheries ; H. N. Dickson, 'Movements 

 of the Surface Waters of the North Sea,' Geographical Journal, March 1896 ; Prof. 

 Otto Pettersson, Ueb9r die Beziehungen zwischeu hydrographischen und meteoro- 

 logischen Phanomenen MeUorologische Zeitschrift, August 1896. 



