OCEAN BED RISES TWO MILES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3355, 3 January 1927, Page 8

OCEAN BED RISES TWO MILES.

. VAST CONVULSION IX THE ATLANTIC. The discovery that the hod of the Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of St Helena has risen two miles during the last twenty-five years has led to a belief amongst scientists that the whole Southern Atlantic Ocean bed is undergoing a vast, submarine convulsion. Hie first news of this phenomenon was announced by a cable-ship on its return from repairing a break in the St. Helena-Capetown cable, which was laid down in 1899. When the cable-ship arrived at the spot designated by the electricians it was discovered that, instead of the ocean being 2700 fathoms, or just over three miles, deep, as stated on the chart, it was only a little more than three-quarters of a mile, or 660 fathoms. deep. . Students of oceanography declare! that such changes in the ocean bed are going on continually, and that the disturbances synchronise with earthquakes. The disturbances are said to lie the cause of the frequent, sudden appearance of new islands and shoals in southern oceans.