What evidence led Fridtjof Nansen to propose drifting across the Arctic Ocean?

Fridtjof Nansen proposed his daring expedition across the Arctic Ocean after discovering evidence that ice in the polar sea drifted from Siberia toward Spitsbergen.1

This conclusion was primarily drawn from the fate of the U.S. expedition ship Jeannette. After the Jeannette was crushed by ice and sank near the New Siberian Islands, wreckage from the vessel was later discovered on the southwest coast of Greenland. Nansen reasoned that this debris had drifted across the Arctic Ocean, suggesting that a ship could intentionally be caught in the ice and carried by these same currents.21

To test this theory, Nansen designed the Fram with a rounded hull specifically shaped to rise above the ice under lateral pressure rather than being crushed, allowing it to serve as a stable base for scientific exploration during the drift.21