The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-01-03
AN OCEAN RIVER.
Discovery of a Third Equatorial Current
81, fhs Pacific


fnflis Pacific.
The London Nautical Gazette con-
taiaCd recently an Interesting announce
Ineut and detailed account of a newly
discovered current in the equatorial Pa
| cific The discoverer and explorer of
this remarkable. oceanic movement is
Capt. john McKirdy, of the steamship
Peruvia, running between Callao, Homo
lulu, and Hong Kong, who h0e devoted
much study to the circulationef the sea
from the Peruvian coast to Panama, and
thence westward along the equator. It
is well-lnOwn that approximately parallel
with ''the line" and from. the second to
the tenth parallel of nerth latitude the
Pacific 'eaSsstorial counter current
moves east y, contrary to the grand
general moFe nfeFt of all equatorial waters
Along the Npstern coast Of South America
there hase 3sse2 also recognized since
Humboldtsst stime,a vast flow Of glacial
water from. the Antarctic basin, which,
after penetrating to the equator, turns
Westward ly-aiid falls into the general
westerly movement. But now, to the
surprise of photographers, third and
powerful equatorial current Is revealed
by Capt. McKirdy's explorations, which
presses with large volume from the
southwark and then to the westward.
The remarkable features ofsthis cur
rent are Its shape, force, and color, with
its temperatJre-all so distinctly traeea-
BILE far from land that its explorer says:
It's color is deep, deep blue, or deep
6iUiSH-6IGck, and cannot be mistaken
(the surrounding waters of the North
Pacific are bright, beautiful blue), and
It's <Yaters differ in temperature from that
around it by about two degrees, so that
you can tell In minute If you are In it
or out of it," AS it flows west of the one
hi1ndredth meridian, west longitude, it
feels the northwestward pressure of the
great body of Antarctic water known as
Humbolt's current, of ''lGrk, dirty
green" hue; and thus the contrasted
stream of "deep blush black" is forced
bodily north of the equator, forming
shrunken horn or distorted letter S re-
versed, the lower end pointing to Panama
and the upper little to the eastward of
the Sandwich Islands. The equatorial
counter-current also aids In causing this
"bend" In its course, but when the pres
sure is removed the current of dark blue
resumes its westerly path, curying gently
round
The explanation of this ''mighty river
running in the Pacific Ocean," as Capt
McKirdy calls it, is very nationally
pointed out by himself. "There is con-
siderable testimony" he says, I" as to the
existence of a current setting to the south
ward and southeast along the Californian
and Mexican coasts (possibly a continua-
ton of the Japanese currently. This body
of water gets pent up In the Gulf of Pan |
anna. It cannot get south on account of
Humboldt's current, and the two streams
change their course to the westward,
running along side by side near the
equator, until they meet the equatorial
counter current, which splits them like a
wedge" Undoubtedly, as this able Off
Ger of the mercantile navy suggests, the
the neWly-discovered "horn-shaped cur
rent is ga continuation of the Japanese
current" known as the KHro Siwo, or
''s Black Stream of Japan, " whose pheno-
mena and movements off the coasts of
Japan and its recuryation across the Pa
cific to the California coast were origin
ally ascertained and ohRrted by Capt.
Silas Bent, of London, in Perry's Japan
expedition. The deep-blue color of the
Kuro Siwo near the japan Islands and
all the way across the North Pacific to
California marks its identity with Capt. |
Nc Kirdy's ''deep blush black" current |
as traced westWardly from the Gulf of
Panama to the mid-Pacific
The Importance of this discovery is
recognized by the highest authority of
the British Admiralty as rejecting new
and decisive light upon the mysterious
circulation Of Pacific waters, and as JUS
tifying a recasting OF Western Pacific !
charts 1t affords a long-looked-for key |
to the history of the Kuro Siwo-the |
Gulf-stream of the greatest of oceans
as that dark water, after coursing so
many Thousand of miles, bends around
the North American coast, and, complet-
ing, its grand round, re-enters the main
equatorial stream whence it originates,
near the Asiatic coast. It is quite evi-
dent, also, that for all purposes of navi-
cation in the region through which it
moves, so magnificent ''river in the
sea" (Within which the Peruvia made the
handsome run of 322 miles a day., is
destined to be great highway of COM
merce