APPENDIX I

Summary of Bathymetrical, Tidal, and Meteorological Observations[4]

BY R. A. HARRIS
Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C.

Soundings.—Previous to the expeditions of Peary, little was known concerning the depths of that portion of the Arctic Ocean which lies north of Greenland and Grant Land. In 1876 Markham and Parr at a point nearly north of Cape Joseph Henry, in latitude 83° 20½´, and longitude 63° W., found a depth of 72 fathoms. In 1882 Lockwood and Brainard at a point lying northerly from Cape May, in latitude about 82° 38´ N., and longitude about 51¼° W., sounded to a depth of 133 fathoms without touching bottom.

The motion of the polar pack was inferred by Lockwood from the existence of a tidal crack extending from Cape May to Beaumont Island. Peary's journeys along the northern coast of Greenland in 1900, and upon the Arctic ice in 1902 and 1906, firmly established the motion suspected by Lockwood. In April of the years 1902 and 1906 he found an eastward drifting of the ice due to westerly or northwesterly winds. Moreover, along the line of separation between two ice-fields the northern field had a greater eastward motion than had the field to the south of the line. These facts, together with the water sky observed to the north of Cape Morris Jesup in 1900, strongly indicated the existence of deep water between Greenland and the North Pole.

Though few in number, the soundings taken in 1909 between Cape Columbia and the Pole are of great interest to geographers.

The accompanying diagram shows the results obtained.

These soundings prove the existence of a continental shelf covered by about 100 fathoms of water and whose edge, north of Cape Columbia, lies about 46 sea miles from the shore. In latitude 84° 29´ the depth was found to be 825 fathoms, while in latitude 85° 23´ it was found to be only 310 fathoms. This diminution in depth is a fact of considerable interest in reference to the possible existence of land to the westward.

The three soundings taken between the point of comparatively shallow water and the Pole failed to reach bottom. The one made within five sea miles of the Pole proved the depth there to be at least 1500 fathoms. This is not at variance with the northernmost sounding taken by the Fram, at a point north of Franz Josef Land and in latitude about 85° 20´, viz., 1640 fathoms and no bottom.

Tides.—Tidal observations upon the arctic coasts of Grant Land and Greenland were carried out under instructions from the Coast and Geodetic Survey, this Bureau having been ordered by President Roosevelt through the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to have such work undertaken.

The object was to secure observations along the northern coasts of Grant Land and Greenland at a sufficient number of places for determining the tides in this region; it being the belief that such observations might throw light upon the possible existence of a "considerable land mass in the unknown area of the Arctic Ocean."

Systematic tidal and meteorological observations were carried on day and night at Cape Sheridan, Point Aldrich (near Cape Columbia), Cape Bryant, Cape Morris Jesup, and Fort Conger—the periods of time covered at these stations being about 231, 29, 28, 10, and 15 days, respectively.[5]

The tides were observed upon vertical staves or poles held in position by means of stones placed around them at the bottom of the shallow water along the coast. At Cape Sheridan, Point Aldrich, and Cape Bryant igloos were built over the tide staves. These being heated, usually by means of oil-stoves, the observers were enabled to maintain open well-holes with comparative ease.

In order to secure fixed data of reference, permanent bench marks were established on the land, not far from the igloos or tide staves.

The ice-covering of the water nearly obliterated all wind waves which generally impair the accuracy of staff readings made in open bodies of water. The measurement of the height upon staff of the surface of the water, as the surface rose and fell in the well-holes, was carried on with great precision, a fact which the plottings of the observations have well brought out. The observations were taken hourly; and during a large percentage of the time these were supplemented by observations taken more frequently, often at intervals of ten minutes each.

The chronometer used in connection with tidal work was compared with true Greenwich time at New York before and after the cruise to the Arctic. The comparisons showed that during this period of 461 days the average daily gain of the chronometer was 2.2 seconds.

The mean lunitidal intervals and the mean ranges of tide, together with the approximate geographical positions of the stations, are as follows:

StationLatitudeLongitudeHW
Interval		LW
Interval		Mean Rise
and Fall
°´°´hmhmFeet
Cape Sheridan8227612110314141.76
Point Aldrich830769447581500.84
Cape Bryant822155300036221.07
C. Morris Jesup8340333510494330.38
Fort Conger8144644411355154.06
Fort Conger[6]8144644411335204.28

The harmonic constants for these places will be given in a paper on Arctic Tides about to be issued by the Coast and Geodetic Survey.

As indicated by its name, a "lunitidal interval" is the time elapsing between the passage of the moon across the meridian of the place or station and the occurrence of high or low water. If two stations have the same longitude, then the difference between the lunitidal intervals for the two stations denotes the difference in the times of occurrence of the tides. If they have not the same longitude, then the intervals must be converted into lunar hours (1 lunar hour = 1.035 solar hours) and increased by the west longitude of the stations expressed in hours. The result will be the tidal hours of the stations expressed in Greenwich lunar time. The difference between the tidal hours for two stations will be the difference in the time of occurrence of the tides expressed in lunar hours.

One of the most important results brought out from the tidal observations of the expedition is the fact that high water occurs two hours earlier (in absolute time) at Cape Columbia than at Cape Sheridan. The Cape Columbia tides are even earlier than the tides along the northern coast of the Spitzbergen Islands. These facts prove that the tide at Cape Columbia comes from the west. It is the Baffin Bay tide transmitted, first, northwesterly through the eastern portion of the Arctic Archipelago to the Arctic Ocean, and then easterly along the northern coast of Grant Land to Cape Columbia. That the tide wave should be felt after a passage of this kind, instead of practically disappearing after entering the Arctic Ocean, is one argument for the existence of a waterway of limited width to the northwest of Grant Land. This suggests that Crocker Land, first seen by Peary on June 24, 1906, from an altitude of about 2000 feet, may form a portion of the northern boundary of this channel or waterway.

The tides along the northern coast of Greenland are due mainly to the large rise-and-fall occurring at the head of Baffin Bay. The Arctic Ocean being of itself a nearly tideless body so far as semidaily tides are concerned, it follows that the time of tide varies but little as one goes through Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, and Robeson Channel; in other words there exists a stationary oscillation in this waterway. The northeasterly trend of the shore line of Peary Land beyond Robeson Channel and the deflecting force due to the earth's rotation tend to preserve, far to the northeastward and partly in the form of a free wave of transmission, the disturbance resulting from the stationary oscillation in the straits. The tide observations indicate that this disturbance is felt as far as Cape Morris Jesup, where the semidaily range of tide is only 0.38 foot. At Cape Bryant, northeast of Robeson Channel, the range is 1.07 feet. These values, taken in connection with the Robeson Channel disturbance, indicate that the time of tide along the coast of Peary Land becomes later as one travels eastward from Cape Bryant.

Owing to the comparatively short distance between Cape Bryant and Cape Morris Jesup, it is probable that at the latter point the crest of the wave transmitted from the southwest will appear to arrive much earlier than will the crest of the wave passing between Spitzbergen Islands and Greenland. In this way the small size of the semidaily tide at Cape Morris Jesup, as well as its time of occurrence, can be partially explained.

A no-tide point doubtless exists in Lincoln Sea, off Peary Land.

The semidiurnal tidal forces vanish at the Pole and are very small over the entire Arctic Ocean. As a consequence the semidiurnal portion of the tide wave in these regions is almost wholly derived from the tides in the Atlantic Ocean. The diurnal forces attain a maximum at the Pole and produce sensible tides in the deeper waters of the Arctic Ocean. Such tides are essentially equilibrium tides for this nearly enclosed body of water. The diurnal portion of the Baffin Bay tide produces the diurnal portion of the tide in Smith Sound, Kane Basin, and Kennedy Channel. In passing from Fort Conger to the Arctic Ocean one could reasonably expect to find a great change in the time of occurrence of the diurnal tide in going a comparatively short distance; in other words the change in the tidal hour for the diurnal wave would probably be considerable where the Baffin Bay tide joins the arctic tide.

Peary's observations show that such is the case. They show that the diurnal tide at Cape Bryant, Cape Sheridan, Point Aldrich, and Cape Morris Jesup follows that at Fort Conger by respective intervals of 3½, 5, 6, and 8 hours. They also show that in going northward from Fort Conger to Point Aldrich the ratio of the two principal diurnal constituents approximates more and more nearly to the theoretical ratio; that is, to the ratio between the two corresponding tidal forces. This is what one would expect to find in passing from a region possessing diurnal tides derived from the irregular tides of Baffin Bay to a region where the equilibrium diurnal tides of the Arctic become important.

The range and time of occurrence of the diurnal tide at Point Aldrich do not differ greatly from their equilibrium values based upon the assumption of a deep polar basin extending from Grant Land and the Arctic Archipelago to the marginal waters off the portion of the coast of Siberia lying east of the New Siberian Islands. But De Long's party observed tides at Bennett Island in 1881. From these observations it is seen that the diurnal tide has a much smaller range than would be permissible under the hypothesis of deep water in the portion of the Arctic Basin just referred to. The diurnal tides at Pitlekaj, Point Barrow, and Flaxman Island are, as noted below, also too small to permit of this hypothesis. The smallness of the diurnal tide in the cases cited can probably be explained on no other assumption than that of obstructing land masses extending over a considerable portion of the unknown region of the Arctic Ocean.

No further attempt will be made here to prove the necessity for a tract of land, an archipelago, or an area of very shallow water situated between the present Arctic Archipelago and Siberia. A brief discussion of this question, together with a tidal map of the Arctic Regions, will be found in a paper about to be issued by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and which has been already referred to. A few pertinent facts may, however, be mentioned.

(1) At Point Barrow, Alaska, the flood stream comes from the west and not from the north, as the hypothesis of an extensive, deep polar basin implies.

(2) The semidaily range of tide at Bennett Island is 2.5 feet, while it is only 0.4 foot at Point Barrow and 0.5 foot at Flaxman Island, Alaska. This indicates that obstructing land masses lie between the deep basin or channel traversed by the Fram and the northern coast of Alaska.

(3) The observed tidal hours and ranges of tide show that the semidaily tide is not propagated from the Greenland Sea to the Alaskan coast directly across a deep and uninterrupted polar basin.

(4) The observed ranges of the diurnal tides at Teplitz Bay, Franz Josef Land; at Pitlekaj, northeastern Siberia; and at Point Barrow and Flaxman Island have less than one-half of their theoretical equilibrium values based upon the assumption of an uninterrupted and deep polar basin.

In addition to these facts are the following items which have a bearing upon the shape and size of this unknown land:

The westerly drifting of the Jeannette.

The westerly drifting north of Alaska observed by Mikkelsen and Leffingwell.

The existence of Crocker Land.

The shoaling indicated by a sounding of 310 fathoms taken in Lat. 85° 23´ N.

The eastward progression of the tide wave along the northern coast of Grant Land as shown by observations at Point Aldrich, Cape Sheridan, and Cape Bryant.

The great age of the ice found in Beaufort Sea.

Items of some importance in this connection, but which cannot be regarded as established facts are:

The probable westerly courses taken by casks set adrift off Point Barrow and off Cape Bathurst, the one recovered on the northeastern coast of Iceland, the other on the northern coast of Norway;

The question suggested by Harrison whether or not enough ice escapes from the Arctic to account for the quantity which must be formed there if one were to adopt the assumption of an unobstructed polar basin.

Taking various facts into consideration, it would seem that an obstruction (land, islands, or shoals) containing nearly half a million square statute miles probably exists. That one corner lies north of Bennett Island; another, north of Point Barrow; another, near Banks Land and Prince Patrick Island; and another, at or near Crocker Land.

Meteorology.—Regular hourly observations of the thermometer and barometer were carried on day and night by the tide observers.

A brief résumé of the results obtained is given below, together with a few taken from the Report of the Proceedings of the U. S. Expedition to Lady Franklin Bay by Lieutenant (now General) A. W. Greely.

Temperatures

Cape SheridanFort Conger[7]
MaximumMinimumcenterMean
°°°°
November 14-30- 7-39-23.96
December, 1908- 5-53-29.22-28.10
January, 1909- 6-49-30.61-38.24
February, 1909- 7-49-31.71-40.13
March, 1909+13-52-20.87-28.10
April, 1909+13-37-15.63-13.55
May, 1909+46-15+18.00+14.08
June, 1909+52+15+31.51+32.65
November 17-December 18, 1908- 7-39-25.75
January 16-February 12, 1909-21-48-35.48
May 17-May 22, 1909+37+12+22.97
June 11-June 25, 1909+50+25+34.17

Temperatures

StationDateMaximumMinimumMean
°°°
Point Aldrich near Cape ColumbiaNov. 17-Dec. 13, 1908-14 -46-31.96
Cape BryantJan. 16-Feb. 12, 1909-12-55-36.68
Cape Morris JesupMay 17-May 22, 1909+35+16+27.92
Fort CongerJune 11-June 25, 1909+54+28+34.44
Fort Conger[7]June 11-June 25, 1882+44.4+26.7+34.883
Fort Conger[8]June 11-June 25, 1883+39.6+26.4+33.393

From these values we see that from November 17 to December 13, 1908, the average temperature at Point Aldrich was 6.21 degrees lower than the temperature at Cape Sheridan for the same period; that from January 16 to February 12, 1909, the average temperature at Cape Bryant was 1.20 degrees lower than that at Cape Sheridan; that from May 17 to May 22, 1909, the average temperature at Cape Morris Jesup was 4.95 degrees higher than that at Cape Sheridan; and that from June 11 to June 25, 1909, the average temperature at Fort Conger was practically the same as that at Cape Sheridan during this period.

Barometer Readings (Uncorrected)

StationDateMaximumMinimumMeanMean
°°°°
Fort Conger[9]
Cape SheridanNov. 13-30, 190830.4228.9629.899
Dec., 190830.2729.2829.74929.922
Jan., 190930.4229.1829.75229.796
Feb., 190930.5929.0329.77229.672
March, 190930.8929.6930.28229.893
April, 190930.5829.2029.99130.099
May, 190930.6029.3930.10530.066
June, 190930.2129.3729.80429.878
Nov. 17-Dec. 13, 190830.4229.2629.866
Jan. 16-Feb. 4, 190930.4029.1829.691
May 14-May 22, 190930.5230.0430.304
June 11-June 25, 190930.1029.4729.834
Point AldrichNov. 17-Dec. 13, 190830.5129.3529.998
Cape BryantJan. 16-Feb. 4, 190930.1029.8329.976
Cape Morris JesupMay 14-May 22, 190930.7030.2430.469
Fort CongerJune 11-June 25, 190930.1929.7430.013
Fort Conger[10]June 11-June 25, 188230.12929.41629.817
Fort Conger[10]June 11-June 25, 188330.21829.59029.949

The above tabulation shows that during the month the average fluctuation of the barometer at Cape Sheridan amounts to 1.2 inches, being greatest in February and least in June.

An inspection of the monthly means shows that the barometer at Cape Sheridan is lowest for the months of December and January, or about January 1st, and highest about April 1st, the range of the fluctuation being about 0.5 inch. These results agree well with those obtained by Greely at Fort Conger and illustrated by a diagram upon p. 166, Vol. II, of his Report.

From a tabulation made according to hours of the day, but not given here, there is seen to be a diurnal fluctuation at Cape Sheridan amounting to a little more than 1/100 of an inch. The minima of this fluctuation are fairly well defined from November to April and occur at about 2 o'clock both a.m. and p.m.

After leaving Etah, August 17, 1908, on the voyage northward until July 12, 1909, thermograms covering 5½ months and barograms covering nine months of this interval were obtained from self-recording instruments. These are records in addition to the direct hourly readings of the thermometer and barometer made by the tide observers and from which the above results have been deduced.