Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/69

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Chap. II.]
TEMPERATURE OF THE OCEAN.
53
1841

150 fathoms, 53º.6; at 100 fathoms, 56º.7; at 50 fathoms, 57º.6; at 2 fathoms, 58º.7; and at the surface, 59º.7: the new thermometers agreeing very satisfactorily in their indications with those we had formerly used, when sent down together to several depths less than 600 fathoms. From these experiments it would appear that the mean temperature of the ocean was not attained; and for this purpose it would be necessary to descend below 800 fathoms in this latitude. The temperatures obtained at the several different depths were in each case about a degree higher than those taken in the same parallel in the Atlantic, and differing to very nearly the same amount from some obtained by Sir Edward Belcher in 32º 46′ N. latitude, and 152º W. longitude, and of which he kindly furnished me an account, when I met him at the Cape, in April, 1843. The following table will show the comparison at these three widely different positions.

Aug. 10th, 1841.
Lat. 33º 41′ S.
Long. 166º 23′ E.
Mar. 1st, 1840.
Lat. 33º 23′ S.
Long. 7º 41′ E.
Sir E. Belcher's
Experiment.
Lat. 32º 46′ N.
Lon. 165º 53′ W.
Mean of all.
Lat. 33º 27′
Fath. º º º º
750 40 4 40 4
600 42 7 41 7 43 3 42 6
450 45 6 43 0 43 2 43 9
300 49 5 47 4 48 1 48 3
150 53 6 53 2 42 7 53 2
100 56 7 56 0 55 7 55 8


We were at the time of these experiments about Aug. 10.two hundred and seventy miles from the islands called the Three Kings, off the north end of New