The San Francisco call., 1906-07-15

/ Passing along South America ana leav-
| ing the Bermudas to the left IL passes
along Newfoundland and Labrador. nm
ally ending just south OF Greenland
/ The sub-AtIantic landscape thus con-
sists of two vast parallel valleys, sep
| arated from each other by range or
mountains. Farther north the land
| lies higher and the sea is. relatively
speaking. shallow. Between Greenland
and the Continent close to Iceland and
the Channel Islands, there is huge
plain free from any depressions worthy
/ of mention. 1t Is quite clear that at
one time England was connected TO the
Continent.
| Mostly, subaqueous sceneryis monor-
onous; there are no abrupt declivttteS
or precipices, except in the vicinity OF
the coasts or near islands OF volcanic
formation, everything being rounded ON
and smoothed down by the action or
the water. Close to the land there Is
| somewhat more variety. The Euro
pean plateau, for instance. slopes grad
ually away down into the depths, and
a fair view can be obtained there. pro-
vided a maximum depth OF 1900 feeC be
not exceeded At first abundant vege-
| tation and animal life are met with, but
| below the depth mentioned the scene
| changes First the light grows DINNER
and DINNER, and the deeper we descend
the lower does the Thermometer fall
except In the case OF the Mediterranean
where the temperature Is. relatively
| speaking, high. as this sea Is contained
| in what is practically a closed basin
TEMPERATURE OF THE DEPTHS.
In the Atlantic. by means OF special
| bottles invented by DIR. Richard. one OK
| the Prince OF MOnaco'S collaborators,
the temperature OF the water was taken
for a depth OF 1885 feet. The surface
| temperature of 6S degrees fell 20 50
degrees at a depth Of 1852 feet After
1000 meters (6562 feet). says Q. Sauer-
wein, another OF the Princes coilabora-
| tors, "the temperature falls but slowly
as greater depths are attained. the cold
being practically uniform and not SUD
| teet to any changes or season. An
American expedition in the Pacific
| found a Temperature of 35 degrees
Fahrenheit at the bottom OF the Moser
Basin. 4540 fathoms. or little over hve
miles.
| Cold, darkness and monotony-such
are the characteristic features OF the
ocean bed. The composition OF the
floor itself is the only thing that
changes, though this Is only the case
close to the coast. as no alteration Cor
very Iittle) seems to occur at greater
depths. Investigations made with the
drags, dredgers, sounding apparatus
and the like have shown that 1t Is an
error TO assume that the bed Of the
ocean is covered with sand. as this
/ latter is essentially a coast formation
only found in comparatively shallow
water, close to the shores Mud be-
gins to take its place the farther we
go afeld-mud, or, rather ooze- Its
origin varies considerably; a part con-
sists of the alluvial deposits brought
down by rivers
In many places the sand or ooze Is
mixed with volcanic elements origin
ating from terrestrial and submarine
explosions. The inorganic world. how
ever, Is not the only source from which
the ocean bed receives its supplies OF
material The remains OF organic
creatures also contribute no mean
share. The upper strata Of the sea
swarm with teeming animal Hfe-al-
gae, crustaceae, eggs. larvae. ETC., OF
all kinds, which die daily In thousands
and slowly sink to the lowest depths
Of the sea-