Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-06-12
DEEP SEA RESE1RCHES.
Remark able Results of Recent
Scientific Investigations.

Nineteenth Century,
D. carpenter, The English pny SiciSt, has re-
Gently published some remarkable results OF
lis elaborate studies OF the latest deep sea ex-
Laolallons. TIE work OF the scientific circum-
Though completed In 1876 has not until within
few months, il even now bean fully reduced.
ana some of It's most important discoveries are
nator. One of the first questions its labors
contribute TO solve is the depth and contigura-
ton OF the ocean basins. The prevailing no
needs considerable modification, none OF them
having been carefully outlined. except that of
the north Atlantic " hen sounded With view
OF laying the first Atlantic cable. 1.-THE form
OF the deep ocean" he says, 'is rather to be
likeDed to that OF a fiat waiter or tea tray, sur
rounded by an elevated and steeply sloplng
lin, than to that OF the basin with which il is
commonly compared and he adds: 1.-The
great continental platforms usually rise very
abruptly from the margins OF the real oceanic
ocean floors is now aScertained TO be about
ID 0t0 feet. AS the average height of the en-
tire land mass OF the globe above sea level is
about Loco feet, and the sea area about two
and tbree-fourths times that of the land. it fol-
lows that the total volume OF ocean water is
th1rty-six times that OF the land above the sea
level. These deductions seemingly unim-
portant except to the votary of science are
destined perhaps to serve the highest practical
purposes OF future deep sea telegraphy. The
Intelligence now Quarried out of the enormous
cCilectl0n or later ocean researches shows the
nodern engineer and capitalist the feasibility
OF deposltlng Geographic cable over almost
any part or the ocean floor, and ought to give
new confidence In the success OF all such enter
pllSeS properly devised and equipped When
II Is remembered that at the beginning OF this
century La Place, the great mathematician,
calculated or assumed the average depth of the
ocf an at four miles (Or 5000 feet more than Dr.
carpenter determines 1t to be from actual sur
veysl, and that La Places conclusion was the
received views among scientists until 1850 or
later. we get some idea of the advance made In
THIS branch OF terrestrial physics by modern
research. Not less interesting is a deduction
Dr. Carpenter makes from the deep sea tenn
In consequence OF the evaporation produced by
the long exposure of the equatorial Atlantic
current its water contains such an excess of
salt as. In spite Of its high temperature TO be
specifically heavier than the colder undertlows
Which reach the equator from the opposite
Arctic and Antarctic basins; and conSeQuently
1t substitutes itself by gravitation for the
colder water to depth of several hundred
fathomS. THUS 1t conveys the solar heat
dOwnwardS In such manner as to make the
North Atlantic between the parallels of 20 de-
g7eeS and 40 degrees a great reservoir of
warmth" The climatic effect of this vertical
transfer OF equatorial heat Is obvious. If the
great heatbear1Dg currents which enter the
North Atlantic traverSed its bosom as surface
currents they would eXpend their warmth
largely In the high ATTITUDES. But, as their
heavy and highly heated volumes in large
measure descend to the deeper strata south of
the foftieth parallel, their stores of tropical
Eastern coast, and ultimately made subser-
Went IN Our climate