acquainted with the conditions in those regions of the Atlantic itself
through which this mighty ocean current flows, before it sends its
waters into the Norwegian Sea. But here we are met by the difficulty
that the investigations that have been made hitherto are extremely
inadequate and deficient; indeed, we have no accurate

(Fig. 1. -- Hypothetical Representation of the Surface Currents in
the Northern Atlantic in April.

After Nansen, in the Internationale Revue der gesamten Hydrobiologie
and Hydrographie, 1912.)

knowledge even of the course and extent of the current in this ocean. A
thorough investigation of it with the improved methods of our time
is therefore an inevitable necessity.

As the Gulf Stream is of so great importance to Northern Europe in
general, but especially to us Norwegians, it was not a mere accident
that three separate expeditions left Norway in the same year, 1910 --
Murray and Hjort's expedition in the Michael Sars, Amundsen's trial
trip in the Fram, and Nansen's voyage in the gunboat Frithjof --
all with the object of investigating the conditions in the North
Atlantic. The fact that on these three voyages observations were
made approximately at the same time in different parts of the
ocean increases their value in a great degree, since they can thus
be directly compared; we are thus able to obtain, for instance,
a reliable survey of the distribution of temperature and salinity,
and to draw important conclusions as to the extent of the currents
and the motion of the masses of water.