Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-28
In 27,OOO,OOO YEARS.
This Earth Nay Possibly Hare Trouble
at That Time.
NO CAUSE FOR IMMEDIATE ALARM.
Thouph Professor Spencer Says THIS oo"-
tinent In Sinking ana 1"a' :"
Years Chicago VIII 80 Submerged
Chicago TrIbune)

49,, =, ,vide reputation for MS hho"
:, ,,a natural sciences, sees no
- y, Immediate alarm In the dismai
.ronhec,ez of Professor j. w. spencer
~ Atlanta, Ga. who asserts 'ha' tue
American continent is gradually SINKING
Professor Spencer thinks In about S'vV'
wears Chicago will be submerged behealh
.,o ,yaters of the great lakes, ana these
will find their outlet in the MISSISSIPPI
river. Professor Spencer In paper. read
recently before a gathering or scientists
at Brooklyn, also said the coast or New
Jersey was sinking al the rate or two feet
n century, while Labrador and the coun-
try TO the far north seem to be rising.
Professor Spencer closed with the heart
rending information that there Is no use
of making further @3-year leases In New
York as the proba bility Is that by the
piration of the time all the lowlands would
be under water Professor Colbert, how
ever, takes issue with Professor Spencer
as TO the nearness of all these dreadful
caamlties Professor Colbert raises the
spirits OF real-estate dealers by the com
forting assurance that they may come
to pass in 2.0O000 years. In commenting
upon Professor Spencers prediction, Pro-
fessor Colbert said:
Those statements in some respects are
not out Of harmony with facts well known
to biologists. \ coast line Of the Eastern
States, which Is little elevated above the
sea-evel, Is understood to be slowly
sinking, and a little further subsistence
would cause a submergence OF large areas.
The surface of the earth, as referred 10
-. T.. Cnlxs rfaal N =
measuring, Is In state Of what may be
called continuous change. or, rather. IL
may be said that great many portions
of il have been ascertained TO be passing
through such changes of level, and there
are good scientific reasons for believing
what IS known TO be true OF part Is
true of the whole. These changes are
much more extensive than the ordinary
reader may suppose. For instance. II mas
been proved the soil or rocks FORMING
many of the tops OF mountains were
once buried beneath the ocean-waVes, thls
being proved by the finding there or the
remains of animals which canrot i've eN-
cept in the saltwater OF the sea. In Ike
manner the rerains of other animals ana
OF plants which could flourish only above
the sen level have been found in the earths
at depths far below the present level
of the oceans surface.
DUE To MOVEMENTS.
I'm TO within a comparatively few years
II was generally believed such facts as
have lust referred TO were due TO cataclyS-
mic CONFUSION. 1t now Is held they are
the results of slow movements IN 'he
earth's crust some Of them being pro-
duced by movements occupying hhndreus
of centuries, and perhaps at a smaller
~. fact
named by Professor Spencer The accom-
panying diagram will help TO an under
standing of the cause OF the more general
of these movements
'MathematiCaly we may compute tfae
the result of the falling together OF all lhe
molecules Of which the sun is composed
would be a heating Of every one OF those
particles to temperature OF @Vo'Vp ue-
grees. In the case Of the earth the tenn
perature resulting from the act OF forfha-
ton exceeds q 900 degrees-L p, the Whole
mass of the earth was once glowing at
nearly that enormous heat. Its interior
still is intensely hot, though II has parted
with a portion of its heat by radiation
through a long since formed and probably
still thckening crust. The thickness OF
that crust is variously estimated all the
wav from fifteen to 100 miles. Inside that
a
dered LIQUID by the heat II it were not
for the intense pressure, which there is
pretty good reason to suppose Keeps IL IN
a viscious or pasty state.
THE crust is still cooling. and in obedl-
ence to well-known law its volume
diminishes accordingly. The average
cubic foot of matter in the crust to-day
will occupy less room than cubic fooe
a thousand years hence. AS conse-
auence of this cooling the constituent
materials OF the crust shrink tugethet'
IL all were of the same density anu the
crust in all parts of equal thickness the
shrinkage probably would be 50 nearly
uniform that the effects would not De
observable by US. But this not pelhs
the case the result Is something ike that
presented by the lower of the two seq
ments in the diagram The TWO oDique
lines on the right and left OF the shasrahi
represent radh pointing toward inc
earth's centre or centre or gravity An
originally more regular portion OF the
crust represented by the upper segment
in the diagram sinking toward the lower
position is compressed in length, one re-
suit of which is a crumbling of the strata,
a folding of one portion over another IN
extreme cases. and IL is in this way That
mountain ranges and ocean depths nave
heen formed The same process OF cool
ing being continually In progress there
&c an average sinking from one age 10
another But the sinking Is no. neces-
sarily more regular than Is the wearing
away of a river bank by Il current that
undern1ines it, When these slips occur
they cause tremors, which are known as
oarthoIakes. When it is remembered
the most violent earthquakes generally
occur where the ocena Is bordered py
the slope from a nearby mountain range.
and that on this theory the inequalities
of weight or pressure on the ldhd anu
water sides Of the coast line are more
favorable than elsewhere to disruption
the prevalence of earthquakes there IS
readily accounted for.
ATMOSPHERE IS AT WORK.
"This tells how most OF the land sur
faces are elevated and how some of them
are depressed. There Is one cause ever
at work TO reduce the surface or the
land TO the ocean level. 1t is the work
of atmospheric agencies. Frost breaks up
rocky surfaces, rain washes the debris
and soil down TO the rivers, and thence
TO the sea, and even the winds do level
ing work. This in addition to the inroads
which the ocean itself makes upon the
land. The work of denudation done in the
neighborhood of the larger rivers is more
rapid than this. but II may be said for
the whole land surface OF the earth these
forces are estimated TO carry off a foot
in depth from 5000 TO 500 years. SO. II
we average the height OF the continents
at 200 feet, il will be easy to compute
in the absence OF any elevatlng process,
such as above described. the whole of
the land would disappear beneath the
ocean in from 100000 TO 100000 years
1T is evident IL the crust be thickenlng
as a consequence of continuous cooling in
the interior of the earth, the amount OF
shrinkage will decrease as time rolls on.
| There is much less OF II, with the result
| ing crumpling and overlapping of strata,
| elevation of mountain ranges, and earth
| quakes, now, than. say, 100000 years
| ago. There Will be much less Of IL 10,
| 100000 years hence than at present. So
| 1t is not difficult for US TO project our
| thoughts into a far-distant future, when
| the elevating force having ceased to exert
| itself. while the denuding forces are not
| correspondngly diminished, the surface OF
| our planet will be covered by water this
| involving the extinction OF all land forms
| Of life. The calamity here anticipated will
| be deferred for many ages by the fact
| that the earth Is slowly parting with a
Il