The South Pole, Roald Amundsen [free children's ebooks online .txt] 📗

of 400 metres, were lower, and in part much lower, than those of the Fram Expedition. At 100 metres the difference was even greater than 0.5 per mille; this is a great deal in the same region of open sea. Now, it must be remembered that the current in the neighbourhood of St. Helena may be regarded as a continuation of the Benguela Current, which comes from the south and has relatively low salinities. It looks, therefore, as if there were yearly variations of salinity in these [Fig. 15]

Fig. 15. — Temperatures at the “Planet’s” Station 25, and the “Fram’s”

Station 39 — Both in the Neighbourhood of St. Helena [Fig. 16]

Fig. 16. — Salinities at the “Planet’s” Station 25 (March 19, 1906) And the “Fram’s” Station 39 (July 29, 1911).

regions. This may either be due to corresponding variations in the Benguela Current — partly because the relation between precipitation and evaporation may vary in different years, and partly because there may be variations in the acquisition of less saline water from the Antarctic Ocean. Or it may be due to the Benguela Current in the neighbourhood of St. Helena having a larger admixture of the warm and salt water to the west of it in one year than in another. In either case we may expect a relatively low salinity (as in 1906 as compared with 1911) to be accompanied by a relatively low temperature, such as we have found by a comparison of the Planet’s observations with those of the Fram.

We require a larger and more complete material for comparison; but even that which is here referred to shows that there may be considerable yearly variations both in the important, relatively cold Benguela Current, and in the currents in other parts of the South Atlantic. It is a substantial result of the observations made on the Fram’s voyage that they give us an idea of great annual variations in so important a region as the South Atlantic Ocean. When the whole material has been further examined it will be seen whether it may also contribute to an understanding of the climatic conditions of the nearest countries, where there is a large population, and where, in consequence, a more accurate knowledge of the variations of climate will have more than a mere scientific interest.

NOTES

[1] — Fram means “forward,” “out of,” “through.” — Tr.

[2] — This retrospective chapter has here been greatly condensed, as the ground is already covered, for English readers, by Dr. H. R. Mill’s “The Siege of the South Pole,” Sir Ernest Shackleton’s “The Heart of the Antarctic,” and other works. — Tr.

[3] — Anniversary of the dissolution of the Union with Sweden. — Tr.

[4] — Daengealso means “thrash.” — Tr.

[5] — Unless otherwise stated, “miles” means English statute miles. — Tr.

[6] — A language based on that of the country districts, as opposed to the literary language, which is practically the same as Danish. The maal is more closely related to Old Norse. — Tr.

[7] — Named after Dr. Nansen’s daughter. — Tr.

[8] — A vessel sailing continuously to the eastward puts the clock on every day, one hour for every fifteen degrees of longitude; one sailing westward puts it back in the same way. In long. 180deg. one of them has gone twelve hours forward, the other twelve hours back; the difference is thus twenty-four hours. In changing the longitude, therefore, one has to change the date, so that, in passing from east to west longitude, one will have the same day twice over, and in passing from west to east longitude a day must be missed.

[9] — For the benefit of those who know what a buntline on a sail is, I may remark that besides the usual topsail buntlines we had six extra buntlines round the whole sail, so that when it was clewed up it was, so to speak, made fast. We got the sail clewed up without its going to pieces, but it took us over an hour. We had to take this precaution, of having so many buntlines, as we were short-handed.

End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The South Pole, Volumes 1 and 2

by Roald Amundsen