The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-08-26
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Until about tbirty-fiye years ago the
impression was general, some men of
scientific attachments even holding it,
abysses that were fathomless. Naviga-
tors solemnly assured credulous land
lubbers that they knew the location of
certain holes that never could be
sounded because they were bottomless.
This implied that the immeasurable
depth continued through the earth to
another immeasurable depth on the
other side, proposition that was
manifestly not reasonable, to say the
least.
Now the oceanographer knows the
floor of the sea almost as thoroughly
as the geographer knows the configura-
tion of the land. There are tremendous
deeps, but the greatest that a ship
properly equipped with sounding APP
paratus has ever passed over was
found and recorded by an infallible
method.
The ship was the United States
steam collier Nero, and it was incl
dental to a thorough exploration of the
Pacific for a transpacific cable that she
picked up "a few handfufs of the re-
hottest bottom, seventy-fve miles east
southeast of the Island of Guam, six
years ago. The spot was christened
the 50 Nero Deep and no sounding rod
has ever gone further into any ocean.
The depth was $3.50 fathoms, or only
sc feet less than SIX statute miles. The
peak of the highest mountain on earth
is not SO tall.
The work of the Nero probably
never has been equaled by any other
vessel surveying for a cable route. In
cidental to the soundings the natural
ist of the ship collected much material
relating to the character OF the bot
tom, adding something to the great
stock of knowledge already acquired.
The Nero made soundings every ten
miles over zigzag course of y, 1880
nautical miles. The explorations praetlc-
ally covered a sea territory fourteen
miles wide and 5000 miles long, and
for thoroughness has never been ex-
eeIled.
much like that of the visible world
about us. The oceans have their val
leys and plains, their plateaus and
their lofty mountain peaks. There are
preeipices that put to shame those OF
the land. and some of the tallest sum-
mits which project from the waves
in the form of little islands, would be
inaccessible if they rose the same
height from the earth as they do from
the bottom of the ocean.
The great difference between the
under ocean territory and that smaller
part of the planet on which we have
our being is the difference between
light and darkness. At few. hun
dred fathoms the ocean is as gloomy as
twilight and beyond that to the utter
most depths there is no light except
that given out by phosphorescent crea-
lures and matter. The sunlight does
not penetrate below this few hundred
fathoms At about 600 fathoms the
Temperature of the water drops TO %
degrees. Thereafter down to depth
of five or six miles there is an aodf-
tional drop of only about / degree.
This GOODNESS, only degrees above
the freezing point, Is attributed parity
to the absence of the sun 5 influence
and partly to the existence OF polar
and sub-polar currents that have sunk
10 the bottom and spread slowly over /
tbe valleys. carrying with them air |
sufficient to sustain marine life even !
at the depth of three or four miles. !
These currents are sluggish. and 1t IS i
con ieetured that the denizens of the ,
abvsmal chill and gloom have an en- /
vironment of absolute calm.
The pressure at six miles below the .
surface is about five tons to the square
inch. which the tissues of the deep sea
animals are formed to resist. some OF
+bom are so soft that they disintegrate
vine, they are hauled into the air All
come ND dead. The sudden and enor-
nous decrease of the pressure as they
ascend and the immersion in tenn
nerature of so degrees from tempera-
lure of 35 degrees is enough to destroy