The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-06-09
The Deem Sea.

Some interesting results ofrecent deer
sea explorations were concisely stated
in a late lecture at the Royal institu.
tion, London. Four-elevenths, OF
nearly three-fourths, of the surface Of
the earth is covered by sea. The aver
age depth of the ocean is, according te
the latest calculations, about 1877
fathoms, or somewhat over two miles,
The greatest depth known to exist was
discovered by the United States ship
Tuscarora, near the Kurile islands, in
the Northeast Pacific. 1t is 4,655
fathoms, or about five miles and q
quarter. The highest mountain existing
is of about the same height as the deep
est sea is deep. Mount Everett is 4,e33
fathoms in height. So insignificant,
however, is the total volume of the land
raised above sea level in proportion to
the vast cavity occupied by the sea,
that were this cavity elnptied OF its
water, the whole of the land now above
sea level could be shoveled into. it
TWENTY-FIVE and half times over be-
fore it would be filled up to the present
Nevertheless, the depth of the ocean,
great as it is, is as nothing in compare.
son with the vastness of their extent OF
surface. AS Mr.. Croll has said, the
oceans, in relation to their superficial
area, are as shallow as q sheet of water
loo Yards in diameter and only an inch
in depth. The sides Of the ocean basins
are not at all steep. They are mostly 80
little inclined that an ordinary locomo-
tive engine could run up, them IN a
straight line with ease. Their inclina-
ton Is usually not more than three or
four degrees, or less. Around some
oceanic islands the slope is greater. The
steepest slope known is at Bermuda,
where there is an inclination of nearly
twenty degrees from the edge OF the
reef to 1900 fathoms. There are no
such things as mountains and valleys
on the deep sea bottom. Animals can
not slip down against their will into tile
depths, but must move deliberately into
them, and travel a long journey to
reach them. The pressure e1erted by
the superintendent water at great
depths is 80 great as to be almost beyond
conception. 1t amounts roughly to q
ton on the square inch for every l,OW
fathoms of depth, about 166 times as
much as the pressure to which
people are subjected on land. AT
the greatest depths the pressure is
about four tons and a half. Vast
though this pressure is, it is, how.
ever, only about one.eighth of tina,
which Professor Abel and Captain
Noble have measured, as produced in
their experiments on gunpowder. The
deep sea animals, being completely
permeated by fluids, are probably nc
more conscious of pressure acting upon
them than we, and, so long as they
move slowly from one depth to another
are most likely unaffected by the con-
sequent changes of pressure.
With regard to the temperature o.
the deep sea water, the conditions
which would affect animals are com
paratively simple. Nearly all over the
ocean the temperature at 500 fathoms il;
as low as forty degrees Fahrenheit, ano
this is the case even under the equa'
tor in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
Below 1000 fathoms the temperature
is never more than few degrees above
freezing point, excepting in the peculiar
cases of land-locked seas, such as the
Sulu sea.