Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1901-10-17
DEEP SEA CURRENTS.
MYs7-:s.s.5 O. THE OCEAN THAT
HAVE PUZZLED THE SCIENTISTS.

A Theory as 20 the Origin and Cause
OF the Gulf and Other Streams-.Arc
They the Product of Immensc SUBJ
marine Geyxers.
/ For more than Il century scientists
and philosophers have been vainly try
ing to discover the origin and cause of
the mysterious current i'll the Atlantic
ocean called the gulf stream. Why so
called is not apparent. as nothing in
the gulf of Mexico is in its composition.
! There have been many theories, which
have been abandoned. some perfectly
absurd, such as its being caused by the
earth in its revolution on its axis, for
II 1t had the power to draw this stream
ut the rate OF five miles IN hour from
the coast of Florida it would draw all
the water from the east coasts of
| North and South America at the same
| velocity. The prevailing theory is that
the northeast trade winds drive Il cur
rent into the Caribbean sea and, aided
by the feeble equatorial stream, heap
up the water in the gulf of Mexico.
thence rushing around the south of
Florida from the source of the gulf
stream. But there is no such Il heap
ing OF the waters in that gulf The
waters there sure sluggish, and there Is
no perccptiblc current leading toward
the gulf stream or anywhere else.
| This theory has been accepted for
/ f,,fr tp,. l,,,t
it are not entirely satisfied with it, The
quit stream is an Independent body of
water. having no connection With the
water around or behind the point
where 1t emergcS. 1t is warmer and
of deeper blue than the surrounding
seas and gushes forth from the start
ing point off Cape Sable at the rate of
from five To six lSuots an hour, With
Il temperature of about 90 degrees,
lessening gradually as it proceeds on
| Its journey of thousands of miles across
the Atlantic ocean. warming the west
ern shores of Europe.
Having seen the fallacy of the the
| cries concerning the gulf stream, we
will turn our attention to the great Pa
L
With its sister current of the Atlantic
and concerning Which there are no the
| cries to contend with.
1T starts spontaneously from n spot n
few miles from the south end of the
island of FormoSa, in the Banshce
channel, following the coast of For
moSa northcaStcrlv, past and through
Isle
of Japan: thence turns eastward ON its
long journey across the wide Pacific,
warmth. The coast of America from
Puget sound to Mexico. Its dark blue
waters are in striking contrast To the
surrounding seas, giving it the name of
Murra Sum, or black water. 1t is an
independent stream where no combina-
ton OF winds or currents can possibly
cause the mighty rush of warm blue
water with Il velocity of from five to
six knots an hour from the start.
I'm Its characteristics of heat color
and direction it resembles the gulf
stream i'll every particular, and the
origin of the two streams must be the
Shall endeayor. TO sl,Aw,. tar...s%. l,hasa
respects to the other two, with the cx
ception that 1t runs in an exactly op-
|posite direction. Starting from the VI
entity of the south end of the island of
madagascar, it runs southwestcrly
around the Capcof Good Hope, where
ii disappears Off Cape Lagullas. AS Il
current, probably part of it is diverted
into Il steady set of the eastern current,
caused by the prevailing westerly
winds IN that region. No scientists, so
far as l am aware, have attempted to
account for this current. Having now
proved beyond rcfutation that all the
cries advanced as TO the cause of ocean
currents are groundlcss, it remains to
| be proved what the true cause is.
| 1t must be admitted that the currents
| have Il similar origin, as they are idcn-
teal in every respect as regards color,
heat and velocity, springing forth in
the same manner spontaneously from
| tho earth in some mysterious way.
There is no place on the surface of the
earth where the water can he heated
| to furnish the heat contained In these
streams that gush forth from the
depths of the sea; consequently the
| forces must be Subterranean and can
only be accounted for by large bodies
of clear. blue water from the ocean
|forcimg its way into the depths of the
earth under its crust, where it burrows
Il channel of its own To the surface
again, having received its warmth on
the way by contact With the internal
heat of the lower regions of the earth,
forced on by continual pressure from
behind.
That there arc ortices in the carth's
crust cannot be denied, also what be.
comes of the vast volume of water that
cannot be computed which is constant
ly running ut the rate of from four to
six knots an hour from the Atlantic
ocean, through the strait of Gibraltar
into the Mediterranean sea. The nu-
merous rivers. too, are continually
flowing in, and yet the sea remains at
the same level. Evaporation cannot
account for it, for what is evaporated
is formed into clouds and is precipltat-
ed again into the sea by the medium of
storms and frequent rains.
The water must enter the earth from
the ocean through these apertures on
an incline as 1t gushes forth in these
, three mighty currents and cannot be
discovered by soundings; consequently
these three mighty currents are moth
ing more or less than immense geyscrs
!, Captain b. r. Shcrburne in Cleve
land Marine Record.
. D.l.,. x1y... =. ~. an. u....