The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-09-27

But in the Pacific Ocean, while the
depths are at the same So degrees as
in the Atlantic. there is no rising of the
cold water at the equator. The reason
! is evident. The supply of cold is con-
/ fined wholly to the Antarctic ice. The
1 Pacific is closed at the north, and the
! Arctic ice exerts no influence on its
waters. There is no northern deep-sea
current to meet and push up the
southern one at the equator, and the
latter creeps on unobstructed to the
northern bound of the ocean.
This southern current is evidently of
great magnitude. It proceeds from a
Pacific frontage of the vast Antarctic
continental glacier extending 1000 miles
in length along the Antarctic Circle.
The ocean waters from the north en-
countering this massive lce-front and
it's bergs are chilled and sink to the
bottom. Thence they creep north in
a wide and deep stratum underlying
the whole breadth of the Pacific. Re
inforced and pushed on by constantly
chilled supplies behind, they press on
up the whole 5000 miles length of the
ocean,, encountering no adverse current
from the Arctic Circle.
Here comes our second problem.
Where does this vast creep of cold
water find outlet? Somewhere it must
escape to the surface. Where does it
emerge to unite with the upper ocean?
Before indicating the answer to this
second problem, we may note two con-
ditions encountered by this vast creep
of water, which may assist in guiding
us to the answer.
The first condition is that after pass
ing the Tropic of Cancer, the Pacific
Ocean rapidly contracts in breadth. In
latitude As degrees, it is only half as
wide as at the equator. The conse-
quence is that the Notwithstanding
waters are accelerated to twice their
previous velocity.
The second condition is that in
reaching higher latitude this acceI-
Grated current becomes subjected to a
powerful eastward thrust from the ro-
tation of the globe. AS its distance
from the earths axis diminishes in
going north, its retention of the more
rapid eastward rotation acquired at
the southwark must drive this current
with great force to the east. The in
evitable result must be that the whole
body of cold water going north is
driven powerfully against the shores
of the North American continent in
the ATTITUDES of Sitka and Vancouver's
Island. This is illustrated in the ac-
companying diagram.
Here then We have two problems,
both relating to cold currents The
one concerns the source of the mighty
Pacific coast current, the other re-
lates to the final outflow of the deep
sea cold stratum. 1t is obvious that
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other. The answer to both becomes
plain. The source of the coast cur
rent is in the deep-sea stratum. The
outflow of the deep current is the great
coast-current. Each fits the other. To-
gether they constitute one system.
The deep-sea current driven by the
globes easterly thrust, and encoun-
tering the shoaling ocean bottom, is
crowded against the coast, forced to
the surface, and driven southwards as
its only possible outlet And so
energies to being great Pacific coast
current
Such then is the story of the great
cold-current system of the Pacific And
such is the source of the wonderful
cold current of our Pacific coast 1t is
generated by the massive continental
glacier which skirts the Antarctic Cir
Gle. 1t slumbers long in the sluggish
womb of the dark Pacific depths It
quickens to activity in the narrowing
northern ocean. Finally stung to life
by the rotary thrust of the globe, it
springs to birth as the mighty current
sweeping along the western shores of
our continent, dispensing GOODNESS and
moisture to populous states. And fin
ally it bestows GOODNESS and calm and
exemption from tempests to the
islands, making a genial paradise of
the otherwise sultry Hawaii. All those
favored shores derive their genial