Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18. 1909. UNDERHEATH THE SEA. OCEAN DEPTHS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 18 September 1909, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18. 1909. UNDERHEATH THE SEA. OCEAN DEPTHS.

THE Blue ocean waters no indication of tho varied wonders they con- ) ceal, Science, ever active, ever re- * newing its eefforts in all directions, haa unravelled many mysteries ooncerning the bottom of the sea. If "for a moment the sea receded, what would there be revealed? The average man generally entertains the idea that the depth of the water is something enormous, but on inquiry this is not found to be so. The "fathomless ocean" is now an obsolete term, and oceanographists have no difficulty in touching the bottom at most places. Oceanography as a science has made considerable prqgress during later years. The famous cruise of the Challenger between 1872 and 1876 enabled Sir Wyvill Thomson and Sir John Murray to give the world valuable observations concerning- marine depths, zoology and oceanic conditions. On a broad basis it may be said that the land underneath the sea corresponds with that above tho water. There are the same ocean depths, such as the ordinary land valleys, and the shallower waters on the top of hills and moantains. Some of these rise to such a height as to protrude above the level of the water, and so islands appear. It is well-known that the Azores and Capo Verde Islands possess slopes which descend almost abruptly for ■some thousands of fathoms. The honour of being the first discovered mountain in the Atlantic belongs to Sainthill, in lat.-42deg. 50 mm. it:, long. 4"2dcg. oOmin. W. It became known to science in 1832. This mountain is not less than 10,000 feet high, and its summit is 100 fathoms -from the surface. Lieut. Maury, U.S.N., prior to the laying of the first Atlantic cable, made known to mankind that a. great wide plateau exists beneath the ocean, running from. Ireland to Newfoundland. To this elevation be modestly 'gave tho name of the Telegraphic Plateau, because it seemed so admirably suited to the purpose of cable laying, but in the newest charts it has been re-christened with the discoverer's name. It is interesting to note that at that period, and before Lord Kelvin's apparatus for taking soundings by means of fine steel wire, a sounding of 3000 fathoms occupied not less than three and-arhalf hours ; twice and thrice the time it now takes. The process too, is only possible in the summer months, and when the waves and weather are propitious. Nevertheless, in spite of all drawbacks and many failures, the work goes on from year to year, and new soundings constantly repeated in the same locality serve to correct and extend previeus information. The Faraday Hills discovered by the exploring staff on board the s.s. Faraday, in- 1883, in lat. 49deg., 60min. N., long. 28dcg. 19min. \V., and aro noted for the presence of much wreckage at their base, and also for a huge white cone, which rises at a somewhat lower elevation, almost like a marble 'shaft, to commomorate the sepulture of innumerable ships and lives in that part of the Atlantic. Of theso vast submarine pleateaux and plains, rocks, and cliffs, it is said, and it can easily 'be seen, that they are not submitted to the same agencies which conspire to erode and destroy visible land. Beneath the ocean there are nofrosts, no lightnings, no glaciers, no meteoric agents at work. If it were not for the eddies and the perpetual destruction and accumulation of animal life, these ocean rocks and hills might rest as immutable as the "peaks and craters of the ] . moon," where there is no atmosphere i to cause decay. '

It is well-known that much of the earth which is now dry land was once under the water. And the question arises : Will such a change be made in the future? As to the nature of the soil at the bottom of the Atlantic, investigations connected with science have revealed the fact that the belt to about 400 fathoms is commonly covered with sand, and debris washed down by rivers, a conglomeration) resembling an immense refuse heap, only vastly richer in hidden treasure. From 400 to 2000 fathoms the landscape is generally overspread by a white, glob*£|erina ooze, consisting of the broken and decomposed shells of various marine animals.- The substance known" as grey ooze distinguishes depths from this up t0 '2200 fathoms, .while' the* still deeper areas are chiefly covered by a. red clayj

or silicate of alumina and iron. The I quantities of pumice and other volcanic .products which are found extensively scattered over the ocean's bed aro duo to submarine volcanic action. Upon this there lie strewn thousands of' acres, millions of tons of iron andtinj-.j ber, of gold and silver, of dead men's bones. This represents centuries of shipwrecks and marine loss &nd ( disaster. By the configuration of the ocean bed and the existence of certain currents there are several places under the «ea known to collect innumerable sunken ships and Wreckage of all kinds. It Is thoujtht that the deepest indentation into tie earth's crust is in the Pacifit'i The average depth of the whole ocean may be taken as about two English miles. Contrary to former opinion, recent research has clearly proved that the greater depths do not lie in the middle of tho ocean, but in the neighbourhod of the dry land.