RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 289, 5 September 1945, Page 6

RANDOM NOTES

(By Kickshaws.)

A leading Japanese banker says the fate of the Japanese people is in the bands of the Emperor. Won’t the Allies have any say at all?

The floor of the hall at Nuremberg set aside for the trial of major German war criminals is stated to. have collapsed. Just rotted away waiting.

“We are all very interested at present in Mt. Ruapehu,” writes “Knowledge.” "Several times lately we’ve been the victims of its ash and the rumblings which were heard over a wide area. Now the question has arisen in the family, What is .burning in the earth? Some have said, coal, but the ash we get here is not like our coal ash so we are still in doubt. Could you answer my problem?” . Kickshaws hopes the following will explain matters.

The earth is a tiny speck of dust with a’diameter of 7900 miles, spinning in ut; termost space. Compared with other specks of dust in space it is a light weight. So light is.this speck on which we live, it weighs in tons only 6576 followed by 18 noughts. This little bit of insignificant material is perhaps 5,006.000,600 years bld. It started as 4n ’•incandescent gas, cooled into a liquid, and finally solidified Life has been possible perhaps for the last thousand million years. The volcanic' effects which would suggest that something is on- fire .inside the world are primarily based on the fact that inside the earth there is still considerable heat. We live on a thin crust .-sufficiently cooled to enable us to thrive, but as thin as paper compared with the remainder of the inside. It is, therefore, little wonder that now and then the outer crust gets too thin and a bit of the hot inside comes to the surface.

Our world really starts ot the outer fringe of the atmosphere, which may extend for 200 miles, but there is no definite limit. Next comes the shell of water which covers three-quarters of the surface of the earth. Me contrive to perch on the little bits of solid land that, stick up through this shell. The water sheTl goes down to depths of some 35,000 feet, but if spread out over a perfectly smooth sphere it would be two miles deep. The third shell is the covering of rock which forms the outer crust. It is about 30 miles thick. Below that hot much is known. It is suspected that there is another shell some 2000 miles thick which possibly contains increasing proportions of metals such as iron. There is a central core some 4000 miles across containing some very heavy material such .as iron, probably in a molten or. semi-molten' condition.. The heat inside is from 5000 to 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is sufficient to melt all known materials. The pressure is 22,000 tons to the square inch. Nobody has been able to produce equivalent pressure and thus nobody- can ' say for certain whether metals would be solid or plastic under those conditions. The tendency is for high pressure to cause material to melt nt a temperature higher than normal, <« ■ # o

In view of the fact that tbe earth is hotter down below, it is clear that the primary source of heat in volcanoes is attributable to this and not to any burning. As a matter of fact, the centre of the earth is subject to another source of heat, in that there is still left a considerable quantity of unspent radioactive material. Experts'consider that this alone is Sufficient to raise the temperature of the inside core of the earth nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit above that of the surface. At any rate, for this reason atid because the earth has not cooled down inside, the tendency is for the temperature to increase as one goes further into the earth. Special thermometers were lowered into borings in California. A rise of one degree Fahrenheit was noted for every 25 feet of depth. More conservative experts put the average at one degree for every 50 feet. These tests were made to a depth of 7590 feet largely because there are few suitable borings any deeper. It would seem that at a depth of 50 miles; if this temperature gradient continued, temperatures of over 4000 degrees must be expected.

Just where all the heat in the earth originally came from is still discussed by experts. The fact remains that the natural beat is 30,000,000 times as much as could be obtained from the 'entire coal resource? of the earth. So far mau hog dene little mor? than scratch "the crust. His deepest bores are no mor'* than three miles. If he wishes to draw aside the veil he must get down -300 miles. Sir Charles Parson, the inventor of the turbine"? suggested that a bore be sunk 10 miles deep to make use of the heat down below. Mr. John L. Hodgson suggested a bore three times as deep. The cost of this- bore would have been £60,000,000, or the cost of the recent war for a week. Natural heat sufficient to raise water to boiling point exists, at the surface of the earth tn many parts, including the Rotorua area and the Taupo-Ruapehu area. Almosf anywhere in the world it could be obtained 15,000 to 20,000 feet down. A German _ engineer suggested 20 years ago that, a bore be put down to a depth of 15,000 feet, from which he estimated" that power > could be obtained equivalent to 3,0()0,(M)O horse-power. Till really deep bores are sunk it woiild be unwise to imagine that the temperature gradient remains constant as we go really deep. It is reasonable, however, to assume that tbe" volcanic manifestations fire primarily produced by the' nnjural h?at of the world aud not by any burning'or combustion.

Experts consider that it is possible that part of the effects of volcanic activity at the surface are due to the burning of various gases originally incorporated in the contents of the rocks inside the earth. This secondary effect has been known to raise the temperature of, tae lava in a volcano some lt>o degree above that prevailing deeper down. Quantities of water are also condensed into Hie rocks under great pressure. 11ns is liberated when the volcano becomes active, escaping as steam. The escape of steam hag another effect. It is well known that when steam escapes through a it produces powerful electrical effects. Sparks fly and' cracklings are heard. Lips effect is even noticeable if ti radio aerial hangs close to a railway line where «t--"gitie hnitling heavy loads pass. In tue same way the escape of steam and possibly other gase? produces electrical disturbanct’s iu the vicinity of a. volcano. Tlu'sit disturbances become ; visible ' ae electric discharges' of .various npes, which .ran"? from the cß’iiyaleut ot fl licb ttiinji flash to the production effects somewhat th? Same a?' that ol>>pr\r<l in a m'on light. l thus weird elec-fi-ical r-ffects may always be seen whoa close to an active

The secondary effects close to a volcano may quite possibly mask the main effects. A volcanic area may be considered as a weak spot in the earth's'top crust honev-combed with cracks connectin'' different molten areas with a mum Vent How deep they penetrate into the earth has never been determined. It is thought they may go down several miles. The‘different craeks will-deliver thenquota of gases to the main vent, where they will mix witli fierce chemical action: in other words, burn. This fierce heat may further weaken th'- evust and heat "bo rocks beneath till they melt. M ben that m-ettrs cither the volcano blows its IpP off or a lava flow relieves the strain and p'otitnally aet> a h n plug to the volcano, So* t K 1 ”

■'Following your engrossing articles on atoms. I wondered if yoi) have any information about Democritus, the laughing philosopher uf Alider.-i in Thru l ’?;" fifl.'S "He is the first on record as propounding tin- atomic theory. Incidental!,' • Ahderii people were standing butts for stupidity in- ancient, (lays.” Democritus was born round about 47*1 B.U. aud was one of tlie greatest of the Gri't-1: physical philosophers. Perhaps for that reason he was regarded as insane by his fellow countrymen. Anyway, he contrived to live for 90 years and wrote 72 books. He had definite views on atoms, which he considered eternal and absolutely full—of what he did not say. He contended that they were the only tilings that existed in reality and made up all matter. H<* also held advanced views on tlie soul, which ho consiilored to lie a psychic atom: on perception. which be considered to be the changes produced on tlie soul by matter; on theology, but rejected the idea of a deity; and on ethics, which he considered were connected with the tranquility of the soul.