that the warm currents produce a comparatively mild climate in high
latitudes, and that the cold currents coming from the Polar regions
produce a low temperature. It has been known for centuries that the
northern arm of the Gulf Stream makes Northern Europe as habitable
as it is, and that the Polar currents on the shores of Greenland and
Labrador prevent any richer development of civilization in these
regions. But it is only recently that modern investigation of the
ocean has begun to show the intimate interaction between sea and
air; an interaction which makes it probable that we shall be able to
forecast the main variations in climate from year to year, as soon
as we have a sufficiently large material in the shape of soundings.

In order to provide new oceanographical material by modern methods,
the plan of the Fram expedition included the making of a number of
investigations in the Atlantic Ocean. In June, 1910, the Fram went
on a trial cruise in the North Atlantic to the west of the British
Isles. Altogether twenty-five stations were taken in this region
during June and July before the Fram's final departure from Norway.

The expedition then went direct to the Antarctic and landed the shore
party on the Barrier. Neither on this trip nor on the Fram's subsequent
voyage to Buenos Aires were any investigations worth mentioning made,
as time was too short; but in June, 1911, Captain Nilsen took the
Fram on a cruise in the South Atlantic and made in all sixty valuable
stations along two lines between South America and Africa.

An exhaustive working out of the very considerable material collected
on these voyages has not yet been possible. We shall here only attempt
to set forth the most conspicuous results shown by a preliminary
examination.