nærme sig Landet mest udenfor Finmarkens Kyst og bøje 
efterhaanden om mod Nord og Vest i den østlige Del af 
Østhavet, idet de følge de herskende Vindes Retning i det 
Store. 
I den nordlige Del af Østhavet, mellem Østspids- 
bergen og Novaja Semlja, ere de herskende Vinde østlige. 
Her indtræder et lignende Tilfælde som i Nordsøen. Op- 
stuvningen af Vandet ved Spidsbergens 'Østkyst driver 
Vandet her sydover; Vindene have en Component fra Nord. 
Under Novaja Semlja vil den tilsvarende Niveausynkning 
fyldes sondenfra directe af de herskende Vinde. Strømmen 
maa saaledes løbe nordover ved Novaja Semlja, og syd- 
over ved Østspidsbergen. Midt imellem begge Lande er 
en langsom Overgang. 
Ved Spidsbergens Vestkyst ere de herskende Vinde 
Landvinde. De stræbe at drive Vandet bort fra Kysten 
og at fremkalde en Synkning af Havniveauet. Denne 
fyldes søndenfra, hvor der staar en sterk Strømning fra Øst 
ud af Østhavet. Strømmen udenfor Spidsbergens Vestkyst 
løber nordover. 
Efterhaanden faa de nordostlige Vinde i Grønlands- 
havet Overvægten. De drive Vandet nordenfor Strøm-A xen 
sydvestover fra Spidsbergens og Beeren-Eilands Bredder. 
Hele Grønlandshavet igjennem befordres Bevægelsen af de 
herskende Vinde. Ved Islands Nordostpynt, Langanes, 
kløves Strømmen i to. Den ene Del gaar ud gjennem 
Danmarkstrædet mod Vest, den anden mellem Øst-Island 
og Strøm-Axen mod Syd og videre mod Øst, idet den slut- 
ter sig til den directe Strøm fra Atlanterhavet. 
4. Vind-Fladen. 
Det Strøm-System, som ovenfor er beskrevet, har til 
Virkning en Afvigelse af Havets Overflade fra Niveaufladen. 
Niveaufladen er den Flade, paa hvilken Tyngdens Retning, 
deri indbefattet Centrifugalkraftens, ved Jordens Rotation 
opstaaende Virkning, staar lodret. Det er den Form, Havets 
Overflade vilde antage, dersom det var i Ligevægt, altsaa 
uden Strømninger, og der paa alle Punkter af Overfladen 
hvilede det samme absolute Lufttryk. Denne Overflade er 
forskjellig fra den geometriske. Sfæroide; den er den ved 
Land- og Vand-Massernes forskjellige Tiltrækning modifice- 
rede, fra Sfæroiden afvigende Flade, som man ogsaa kalder 
Geoiden. Wed Havets Stromninger antager dettes Over- 
flade en fra Niveaufladen afvigende Form, som jeg bereg- 
ner paa følgende Maade. 
En Vandpartikkel, der bevæger sig i horizontal Ret- 
ning med Hastigheden w, har, ligegyldigt i hvilket Azimuth 
Bevægelsen foregaar, paa Grund af Jordens Rotation og 
Kugleform, paa den nordlige Halvkugle en Bestræbelse 
together towards the north, approach the land nearest off 
the coast of Finmark, and curve in the eastern part of the 
Barents Sea gradually round towards the north and west, 
taking the general course of the prevailing winds. 
In the northern part of the Barents Sea, between 
East Spitzbergen and Novaja Semlja, the prevailing winds 
are easterly, Here occurs a case similar to that in 
the North Sea. The banking-up off the east coast of 
Spitzbergen impels the water southward: the winds have 
a component from the north. Off Novaja Semlja, the 
corresponding depression is filled up direct from the south 
by the prevailmg winds. Hence the current must set 
northwards at Novaja Semlja and southwards at Hast 
Spitzbergen. Midway between both islands there is a 
gradual transition. 
Off the west coast of Spitzbergen, the prevailing winds 
are land-winds, They tend to force away the water from 
the coast, and to produce a depression of the sea-level. 
This is filled from the south, where a rapid current of 
water flows from the east out of the Barents Sea. The 
current off the west coast of Spitzbergen flows northward. 
By degrees the north-easterly winds in the Greenland 
Sea acquire predominance. They force the water north of 
the current-axis south-westward, from the latitudes of Spitz- 
bergen and Beeren Eiland. Throughout the entire tract 
of the Greenland Sea, the motion is kept up by the pre- 
vailing winds. At Langanes, the north-eastern extremity of 
Iceland, this current is split in two. One of its arms Hows 
out through Denmark Strait towards the west, the other, 
between Hast Iceland and the current-axis, towards the 
south. passing on towards the east as it joins the current 
setting direct from the Atlantic. 
4. The Wind-Surface. 
The current-system just described has the effect of 
preducing a deviation in the surface of the sea from the 
surface of level. The Surface of Level is the surface 
to which the direction of gravity, including the effect 
of centrifugal force resulting from the earth’s rotation, 
is perpendicular. It is the form the surface of the 
sea would assume if in equilibrium, or undisturbed by the 
influence of currents, and were every part of the surface to 
have the same absolute atmospheric pressure. This surface 
differs from the geometrical spheroid: it is the surface 
modified by the unequal attraction of jthe masses of land and 
water, deviating from the Spheroid, and likewise termed 
Geoid. The currents of the sea cause its surface to assume 
a form deviating from the surface of level — å form I com- 
pute in the following manner. 
A particle of water that moves in a horizontal direc- 
tion with the velocity u, will, no matter in what azimuth 
the motion takes place, owing to the rotation of the earth 
and its spherical form, on the northern hemisphere have 
16* 
