Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-02-01
THE OCEANS BED.
A Desert OF Ooze and Slime After the
First Mile In Depth.

N
First Mile in Depth.
Despite the fanciful pictures which
some writer's have drawn of the ocean
bed, it's desolation, at least in its deep
est parts, must be extreme. Beyond
the first mile it is a vast desert of slime
and ooze, upon which is constantly
dripping a rain of dead carcasses from
the surface, which carcasses supply
nourishment for the sca&y fauna in
habiting the abyssal region-in some
places more than five miles from the
sunshine - and the microscope re-
veals that the Shiny matter covering
this deepest ocean bed lis similar in
composition TO the ancient chalk OF
the Cretaceous period, while mixed
with 1t here and there are minute me-
tallic and magnetic bodies, which have
been proved to be dust from meteorites.
Atlong intervals phosphorescent light
CLEANS from the head OF some passing
fish which has strayed hither from a
higher and happier zone. But 1t ID
not until we have mounted good deal
nearer the surface that the scene
changes for the better. We now meet
with forests OF brilliantly colored
sponges, while the phosphorescent ami
mails swimming about are much more
numerous; and the nearer we get to the
littoral zone more and more phosphores-
centlights appear, till at longththe scene
becomes truly animated. When only
1900 feet separate us from the sunshine
we come upon the first seaweed and
kelp q, 200 feet Is the deepest limit OF
plant life In the water); but we must
rise still another thousand feet and
more, and get as near the top as l2t
feet before we find any bodybuilding
corals. A plants do not live In the
deep sea, the deep-sea animals either
prey on one another or get their food
from dead organisms and plants which
sink down to them. Thus Maury says
1.-The sea, like the snow-cloud with 1t
flakes In calm. is always letting fal
upon its bod showers OF microscope
shells" And experiment proves tina
a tiny shell would take week to fal
from the surface to the deepest depths
Since sunlight does not penetrate mncl
further than the littoral zone Their
would be beyond this perpetual dark
ness except for phosphorescence
Many OF the animals inhabiting tn
continental and abyssal zones hav
merely rudimentary eyes. But thes
blind creatures have long feelers, whic
help them. to grope their way alon
the bottom. Other deep-sea animals
on the contrary, have enormous eye'
and these likely congregate aroun
such OF their number as are phosphol
escent. and may perhaps follow tn
moving lamp posts about whereve
they go. And so bright is this light o
many OF the fish brought up by th
dredge that during the brief space I'll
animals survive it Is not difficult
read by it.
The reason why fishes and mollusl
living more than three miles und'
water are able to bear pressure
several tons is, that they have excee
ingly loose tissues, which allow Il
water to flow through every intersti
and thus to equalize the weight. Wh'
the pressure is removed they peris
In the Challenger expedition, sent o
by the British Government, all d
sharks brought up from "a depth OF
little less than three-quarters OF mi
were dead when they got TO the surfac
-CoynhiH Md9aEtne.