The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-01-16
PREPARING FOR A DELUGB.
ruE EARTH GBADUi LLY LOSING
LIN IuLILIHRI w.
r... PortIons OF the Globe may no Covered
,,tb Wntcr- How Parts Of the SeH bottom
rpy Become Dry Laud-ncw Travellers
may have walked Across bchrtnE straits
"a IN. English Channel Dry Sbod.

9th MRtcr How Paris Oi the Neh boVo"
,,,v Become Dry Laud-How Travellers
nv have Walked Across BehrinR straits
nd the English Channel Dry Sbod.
That. at certain epochs in the earth's
,,ory. he level OF the sea has differed from its
,,,,sert height. IL shown 10y geological evidences
49,, RE- deemed incontcstatle. Thus the TWEEN
=, eye. feet ne ch and the forty feet beach are
mil ned by sci, utinc winters as well-known
,,,os. The IA sing of the sea level twenty-five
loot or + rt, feet afy region would necessarily
copse the submergence Of large tracts " low
lands I'm that region As early as 1872 N. Ad-
htr,r. IN hia work. Revolutions dc IN Mcr, nd
,.r,sI the theory that thi- submergence, or
,n,. raising Of the sea level was caused 10y
dt.,l,ccrrnt II the earth's centre Of gravity.
couch, about by % great accumulation OF ice at
anna. of the ,.lc.. lie admitted that he did not
or,.ipa,e this theory. hut that he owed Its CON
,cp Ion ~ a suggestion in some rather fancifu
,rr,litions D., Bertrand Of Hamburg ." Der
t'and a. lian.buie in a work printed In l,m.
o,d,ntitleJ E,uosr,t,mtHt Itri0diquc d,S Con-
t,,,t.. bni already put forth this idea. that the
r,...ot waters e., uld he alternately drawn from
,p, h,n,tsuhcrc to the other by the displace-
mont II tie globe. centre OF gravity Iocx-
nj m this displacement be supposed that the
n rth WIS hollow and that there was In Its IN
ler,or a cr,,t nucleus Of luadstone. to which
the comets bv their itrnction. Communicated
backward and forward motion analogous to that
Of pcniunw.'
nut some rather Wild notions which Al
htniar brought forward IN connection with this
tleir,. ptota ], is ut h from receiving such ut
tcrfi.n NJ il dc.eryCd. one OF these notions
wac that The polar ice cap rest. ON the bottom
of ihc,ceau. AMI rise- out Of the water To- the
tnprmou- heisht Of twenty leagues that when
u.cwut,r appr aches penhchon and the atmos-
here become. warm. tive I've wakes soft and
Rotten from the accumulated heat and the sea
now beginning to eat into tho base OF the cap.
tl. &. 50 mn ternined ~ at last TO be loft stand
niu,1n Kind Of gigantic pedestal. This dis
lntc-rafiug Process goes on TIL the fatal mo-
ment at iencth arrives, when the whole m -
umNle- down into the sea IN huge fragments.
which become floating iceherss. The attraction
" the opposite ice.cap. which has " this time
nearly reached iis MAXIMUM thickness. becomes
how predominant. Tie eartn's centre OF gravity
suddenly CROSSES the planc Of the equator drsg
gns the occan along with IL, and carving death
and destruction to everything on the surface of
thc CLONE. And these eat strophes, he asserts,
occur alternately on the two hemis3neres every
hD,p years
TINS theory. shorn n its eNtravagant associi-
uors mas recently been advanced and atly sus-
tined ~ Mr. James Cror, author 4 Climate
HiTiwe." He makes careful estimate 4 the
Orhne.- ~ the antarctic lee cap In order to
ascertain approximately It's effect on the e4r,h's
r.u,rc 4 gravity. on tins point lie says:
The onlrrtir continent "a GENERALLY believed
t1tN'rld. on an average. from tie SCUM Pole
down lllut ~ l,.lst ltt .u9. In round NUM-
ier- ST. H.y take tln aiumct n Of thi, continent
a. ! sn rf.lc4. llc distance f. M the 81 rc u
thercf.,~. be- / il9ri.e. Tho whole Of ms . M
uron,. n.t Greenland. is undoubtedly covered
with Hfr continuous sheet ~ lee. rradual.V
thirI ennx rw ird from ia edgr 20 its centre.
a -upt & one degree continued for l.4lO miles
vii Al etU.u,- four t,ille, IA fhe t,irkncs.',f
the ire q, th' pole. But suppure he slope Of
tho tpoer -..rf .e n TIE cap H. be orl, me- iaif
t.ts amount. VIZ. l half decrec-afid Ne nave no
evidence int a slope so small would lie sufii-
cent 10 dt-ch re. a. - ice anil We hove tuelve
mile, - he til'rLn,.-' OF the u Al Inc hale.
~ tlo-rwn1'h We Not teen arctIs,Nrl"d - r,.
this estimate may douiflsss he rernr,ied 49,
t1neNl lat ex'rayasant: but sli-i, consider
uon VIII show m 4 il would be even more ex-
10 s,sie o "a s.,' OF ics, mn
uecc+ afy outflow ~ The Ice.
In e. IN t'ng the thickness - a snect q con-
1r ,,,t, ,''f W Il" ,nS ..,i n''77 vcros,,
easily i.rm . rroftN accurate sen.u Us i,t'rr-
SEM non "i the tnirNness oi the sheet; hui We
sufo'ati' er, am ~ ', s'',.' '"., 90
with ''"r bile accuracy thickness of "A few
n''',7. I'"s we cahn", on ms W reference &" he
i,lrn,lr. ia iIiu Witt or ,sor,i''" m, t,rt
H.-.u Il tue Sheet should bear o. h., upelati.d
~ ,,,a,,r ~, ,.i' A. 'n lN'' tne error OF under
We nave astr>irrr Natn ulo Of this in regard e.
we g." IN. lne t.lhs " Ni'n luufc7s"s ~ most
d p M. l,ir,th ~ ilrr,' y. iiiIn
~traing tmpfo-.'1n: hut n We could repr sent
l." me u ,. me Na area "i 'ne ocean as cor
ihau Goplh " mid b., The I'M 'cs.inn tT,'
\ sheet " 81 Yer one rnndfod Yards In I meter
,tr'n n,t ,n,, s,,',l ,, ~, ,I 10, 'e ilrl
water. Iut such ii,,r would be- a cnrreci
tepfr-rnlitl'n oil tne ocean 10 miniature. Wore
y. ,ir. 49, ~ 49,, u, 10 e"y ~ t, N
a tntu crlst u ice Taking the a, ean thictne.s
~ we zee NJ Tour miles. the antnr tic Ice sheet
an ,riin 49, ~ 'd;,i1pss,r oyn7''mH we
nod Al obje,ti1us on the scDra Of over sti-
~ ,'''. u lhs lprhne-s nl the car sh ia assume
i,,-,er : a DO rec ,iro III i,ve.s A. v onF
wiii then he oniy AK mites stead u twelve.
"'' D,' ian 'IieAheSs oil the cap Two instead
'''rNau'h ana experience have taught ma al
'"s. '''"lne IN regard 10 Tue antarcticlce sheet.
''' ~" '"lvuSe 81 'reeh'ahu ice' even is almost
F""'-') ""''eu 10 us euges. bl' there are
o'''''' REASONS Iof concluding that the antarc-
&c N7 Is m"e1 'hIoher thah The arctic among
""'" Is tue TACT 'h"t lceoer1s seen in the
''''"f'" ocean are very much larger than
."'9s io"nu 10 tne Noitn' NO 'ceoergs over