bagevendende atlantiske Vand, mod Vest af Groniand, 
sætter den grønlandske Polarstrøm mod SSW forbi Jan 
Mayen og senere, med mere vestlig Retning, ind i den nord- 
lige Del af Danmarkstrædet. Hastigheden er størst ved 
Isgrændsen og aftager efterhaanden henimod Grønlands 
Kyst, hvor den er mindst. Østenfor Jan Mayen gaar Ha- 
stigheden op til 15 Kvm. (0.82 m), længere Nord, under 
75° Bredde, 0° Led., til 7 Kvm. (0.15 m). Under Grøn- 
lands Kyst gaar Hastigheden ned til 4 Kvm. (0.09 m). 
De samvirkende Factorer ere her den større Vindhastighed 
ved Isgrændsen og den ringere specifiske Vægt af Vandet 
ved Kysten. Det er interessant at sammenligne disse Re- 
sultater af Beregningerne med den Skildring. den 
erfarne og intelligente Polarfarer, Capt. Koldewey, giver af 
den Grønlandske Polarstrøm i følgende Ord": 
som 
“Ved Yderkanten af Isen og 1 Drivisen selv, indtil 
de Flak, der befinde sig længere indenfor Isbarrieren, 
findes, mellem Bredderne 70° og 75°, en bestandig sydgaaende 
Stromning af gjennemsnitlig 8 til 10 Kvartmiles Fart 1 
24 Timer, hvilken imidlertid efter Vindene og den deraf 
følgende Isdrift ofte bliver merkelig afbøjet mod Øst eller 
Vest. Lige ved Kysten er dog — omend i Almindelighed, det 
er i Middel for Aaret, en Flytning af Isen og Vandet mod 
Syd ikke kan ganske oversees (den gjennemsnitlige Hastig- 
hed af det Isflak, hvorpaa Hansa-Mændene drev, beløb sig 
til 4.6 Kvm. i Døgnet) — denne svagere end ved den ydre 
Isgrændse”. 
De Drifter i Isen, som Scoresby anfører*, give, mellem 
74° og 80° N, 2°—10° W, Hastigheder af 8.5, 12—13, 
14 og 20 Kym. i Dognet. Capt. C. Bruun har observeret 
med sit Skib en Drift vestenom Jan Mayen ned mod 
Langanes paa Island med en Fart af 10 Kvm. pr. Døgn. 
En Del 
mod Island. 
af Polarstrømmen fortsætter sin Vej ned 
Den overvejende Del følger Grønlands Kyst 
gjennem Danmarkstrædet og videre til Grønlands Sydspids, 
hvor den gaar ind i Davisstrædet. 
Strømningerne omkring Island ere meget interessante. 
Deres Løb er allerede for mange Aar siden beskrevet af 
Admiral Irminger®. De omkredse Island i anticyclonisk 
De nordlige Landes Klimatologi lærer, at det er 
Forholdene om Vinteren, der give Aaret dets gjennemsnit- 
lige Character.  Fastlandets Afkjøling i Modsætning til 
det varmere Hav fremkalder et Maximum af Lufttryk over 
Landet, med Landvinde, der, afbøjede til højre, omkredse 
Kysten i anticyclonisk Retning. 
Retning. 
Endvidere ville Elvenes 
Vand forhøje Vandspejlet ved Kysten, og begge disse Aar- 
sager frembringe en Strøm i Retning af de herskende 
' Zweite Deutsche Nordpolfahrt, Meteorolugie und 
graphie, S. 613. 
? An Account of the Arctic Regions. I, S. 213—217. 
* Strømninger og Isdrift ved Island. Tidsskrift for Søvæsen, 1861. 
Hydro- 
170 
direction. 
bounded by the Atlantic water returning towards the south, 
on the west by Greenland, the Greenland Polar current sets 
SSW, past Jan Mayen, and then, taking a more westerly 
direction, flows into the northern part of Denmark Strait. 
The velocity is greatest at the ice-limit, gradually diminish- 
ing towards the coast of Greenland, where it is least. East 
of Jan Mayen, the velocity reaches 15 nautical miles (0.32 m.), 
farther north — lat. 75° N, long. 09 — it is 7 naut. miles 
(0.15 m.). Off the coast of Greenland, the velocity dimin- 
ishes to 4 naut. miles (0.09 m.). The co-operating factors 
are here the comparatively great wind-velocity at the ice-limit 
and the low specific gravity of the water at the coast. It is 
interesting to compare these results of the computations 
with the account given by Capt. Koldewey, the experienced 
and intelligent Arctic navigator, of the Greenland Polar 
current, in the following words!: — 
“At the outer limit of the ice, and in the drift-ice 
itself, as far as the fields which he at a greater distance 
from the ice-barrier, there is, between lat. 70° and 75°, 
a steady south-setting current, averaging from 8 to 10 
nautical miles in 24 hours, which, however, according to 
the winds and the ice-drift resulting from them, often 
deviates remarkably towards the east or the west. Mean- 
while, in immediate proximity to the coast — though as a 
rule, 1. e., in the mean for the year, we cannot quite 
overlook that both ice and water are moving southward 
(the average rate of the ice-floe on which the Hansa-men 
drifted, was 4.6 nautical miles in 24 hours) — this movement 
is less rapid than at the outer ice-limit.” 
The various ice-drifts mentioned by Scoresby” give, 
between lat. 74°—80° N and long. 2°—10° W, velocities 
of 8.5, 12—13, 14, and 20 nautical miles in 24 hours. 
Capt. C. Bruun observed with his ship a drift setting from 
the sea west of Jan Mayen towards Langanes, Iceland, at 
the rate of 10 nautical miles in 24 hours. 
Part of the Polar current continues its course towards 
Iceland. By far the greater part flows along the coast of 
Greenland, through Denmark Strait, and thence farther on 
to the southern extremity of Greenland, where it passes 
into Davis’ Strait. 
The currents round Iceland are highly interesting. 
Their course was many years since described by Admiral 
They encircle Iceland, taking an anticyclonic 
The climatology of the northern countries 
teach us that it is winter that gives to the year its 
The cooling-down of the continent 
Irminger.* 
prevailing character. 
as contrasted with the higher temperature of the sea, 
gives rise to å maximum of atmospheric pressure over the 
land, with land-winds, which, deviating to the right, en- 
circle the coast in an anticyclonic direction. Moreover, 
the water of the rivers will raise the level of the sea 
1 Zweite Deutsche Meteorologie und Hydro- 
raphie, p. 613. 
? An Account of the Arctic’ Regions, I, p. 213—217. 
3 Strømninger og Isdrift ved Island. Tidsskrift for Søvæsen, 1861. 
Nordpolfahrt. 
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ken) 
