The morning call., 1892-07-28
ANOTHER LOST ISLAND.

a few days ago mention was made In this
column of the alleged disappearance in an
earthquake of the principal island of the
Sangir group, In longitude 12j deg, midway
between the islands Of Mndanao and Cele-
Des. News now comes that a Dutch skipper
sailing along the northwest coast of Aus
tralia reports the disappearance of Expedi-
tiOn Island at the mouth of Collier Bay in
! Western Australia. The island is almost
exactly in the same longitude as Sangir
Island, and nearly twenty degrees south.
AS the sea in which it lies is unfTequented
by shipping it is quite possible that its sub
sidenee, if it occurred. was Simultaneous
with the submerson of Sangir below the
waves. The Dutch skipper reports that he
sailed over the spot where the island had
been, and found eight fathoms of water,
whereas all round the place the depth was
normal for the Sea of Timor. say 20 to 100
fathoms The island was 13 miles long by
one mile wide; Ii was 40 miles from the
coast of Australia.
Scientific periodicals note the event as a
fresh illustration of the changes Of level
which are taking place in the southernmOst
continent. The coast OF the colony of Vic
toria and of Tasmania is known to be rising.
| Each year the land gains little on The sea,
so that in PLACES il is found necessary to
lengthen piers in order to maintain the
Origin al depth OF water at their seaward
end. To balance this the coast of Northern
and Northwestern Australia is gradually but
slowly sinking, and the sea is gaining on the
land. The subsideuce is not confined to
Australia. Itextends 10 many of the islands
of the East Indian Archipelago from the
straits of Sunda to the Southern Philippine
Islands The inhabitants point to beaches
hs-f OF low
water, but which in past times were sites of
villages. The same phenomenon is observed
in several places on the western coast OF
South America.
The whole crust Of the globe is probably
in motion, changing its relative level. as ii
gradually adjusts itself to the cOntractions
Of the interior on Whicl: it rests In the
north the circumpOar regions are rising. If
we had records to guide us, we should prob
ably find that Grant Land, Grnnell Land
and Franz Josefs Land ARE several inches
higher than they were when they were
first discovered And simultaneously the
coast of Greenland in the neighborhood Of
Disco is sinking, so that stakes which were
| driven into the beach to moor boats to are
now under water. 1t is easy to understand
! that, without any volcanic agency, the sur
| face Of the earth, resting as il does on a
| foundation which must be incandescent,
| must rise and fail as the action of fire eX-
/ pands and contracts its subterTaneaE sup
/ port.
This process has gone on throughout all
time. In the Arabian Sea, not far from the
mouth Of the Indus, the voyager in the
| Bombay steamers can see, when the water
is clear, the peaks and minarets of a
| drowned city at the bottom of the ocean.
The steamer passes over them as they lie in
their watery grave. At some far distant
period that city lived ana fOurished, prob
ably on the ocean border, and may have
been place of trade and prosperity. The
hungry waves gradually rose and rose, cap
turing a street here, square there, until
the people were driven ouL aud tie city vas
engulfed. 1t was an illustration on a great
scale OF the action 81 the asency whieh ter
minated The terrestrial Sc of Expedition
| Island
Dopne'ls. in his story OF Atlantis. sa.-
poses ths the aiter-ate uprising and sub
sideEce If tie earth's-erGsf eulminatsd, IN
thecsse OF that 81 contine u "a q fI-5ye.l.tfg;i
catastrophe IN .,ie'l u al end a lssnia svorls
| pefished In night. This ths.ry oIie:
active seismic agency. and 4sI thaf can b
said Of il is thar NJ example Of such worl
has occrrs,va within the historical Period
II s4ar time the crust If the esrtn probably
= rises and fills continually ali over tbr
| globe bat the changes are inpercoptible 3
the observer, it is only where earthquakes
/ come into 2 az that whole + an3s or districtl
) | suddenly vanish from sight.