Below 500 fathoms the western centres of maximum disappear, and higher temperatures occur in the eastern Atlantic off the Iberian peninsula and north-western Africa down to at least 1000 fathoms; at still greater depths temperature gradually becomes more and more uniform.
The communication between the Atlantic and Arctic basins being cut off, as already described, at a depth of about 300 fathoms, the temperatures in the Norwegian Sea below that level are essentially Arctic, usually below the freezing-point of fresh water, except where the distribution is modified by the surface circulation.
This distribution is most marked at about 300 fathoms, and disappears at soo fathoms, beyond which depth the lines tend to become parallel and to run east and west, the gradient slowly diminishing.
Teredo navalis, it has been found necessary, for depths not exceeding 300 fathoms, to protect the core with a thin layer of brass tape.
The grappling of the cable and raising it to the surface from a depth of 2000 fathoms seldom occupy less than twenty-four hours, and since any extra strain due to the pitching of the vessel must be avoided, it is clear that the state of the sea and weather is the predominating factor in the time necessary for effecting the long series of operations which, in the most favourable circumstances, are required for a repair.
