Spitsbergen Waters eBook

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. On August 131h we sailed northwards, hoping to reach the deep water to the north of Spitsbergen, but unfortunately we were stopped by the ice in about 80° 39'' N. And 17° 14'' E. (stat. East of this place, however, at Stat. 36, we found a depth of 620 metres, being obviously in a submarine channel passing from Hinlopen Strait across the submarine platform into the North Polar Basin; and the water near the bottom of this channel was evidently of the same kind as the deep-water of the North Polar Basin. We now had to return, there being no prospect of getting farther north, as the ice was drifting rapidly southwards. We went again west-l wards, and made a new attempt to penetrate northwards, north of the north-western corner of Spitsbergen; but in 80° 29'' N. And about 12° E. We were stopped by tight ice at Stat. 41. The ship was moored to an ice-oe on August 17th in the evening, and during the following two days, current-measurements and other observations were continuously taken. In the afternoon of August 19th, at p. M., the tightening of the ice-oes round the ship, and the heavy swell coming from the sea outside, made it necessary to leave the ice; and heavy gales during the following days prevented us from going into the ice again.