The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-12-29
TEN MILLION YEARS OLD.
And the Earth Is Not Growing Cooler
Snys Prof. Sec.

Ana tic Earth IN NOT NirOWlHE SOOicr,
Snys Prof. See.
In the September number OF the pro-
ceedlngs of the American Phlosoph-
ical Society, Prof. T. j. ]. See, United
States Navy. has memoir on the cool
ing of the earth and the theory of
earthquakes held by the ancients. In
part the memoir is further elabora-
tion OF the paper published last March
by Prof. See to show that earthquakes
are due primarily to the leakage of
the oceans bottom.
For almost a century scientists gen.
orally have held that the earth is cool
Ing, and therefore slowly contracting.
In this way they explain earthquakes
and mountain formations. Now comes
Prof. See with an elaborate argument,
moro exhaustive than that OF Lord
Kelvin. tending to show that the eff
tects Of secular cooling of the globe
are insensible, and totally denying the
contraction of the earth.
Prot. Sees memoirs may be summar-
lied as follows: The earth's tempera-
ture has an elliptical distribution
within, being about $500 degrees. Fab
renheit. at the center. and falling off
loW lIie Sul1uSc, MuC1c ~ - HSA W
AS the earth slowly cooled. the crust
was the only part which experienced
an appreciable fall in temperature.
Hence the crust is thin, with thick
ness of not more than twenty miles
Which agrees with the depth deduced
from the study OF the Notwithstanding
earthquakes. The great earthquakes
originate at the depth Of about 2(
miles, and none Is known OF a depth
exceeding 40 miles.
! AS the earthquakes all have super
ficial origin. and no shakes have a
| deeper source, it follows that there is
no deep seated contraction of the earth
Consequently all changes in the crus
are due to ordinary earthquakes, ant
| to no other cause.
Secular cooling is infinitely slow
and affects only the crust wherea:
/ world shaking earthquakes proceed
from the layer Just beneath the crust
| AS earthquakes occur mainly along thu
seacoast they cannot depend on secu
/ lar cooling, but must be due to the ex
1 pulsion Of lava from beneath TIL
oceans.
| Hence great earthquakes are not due
! to secular cooling at all, but to thu
leakage of the oceans, which produce.
steam beneath the crust. This event
ually pushes out at the sides an
raises mountains along the coasts.
AS the effects Of secular cooling
are insensible 1t follows that the eartl
Is not contracting. as held in the book
! for three generations. DR.. See shows
indeed, that at an early stage Of thu
i earth's history contraction was goint
on, but 1t ceased after our planet be
]. came incrusted. In fact he thinks tina
so far from contracting, the cart
{ may now be slightly expanding. owing
tc the formation OF pumce everywher
4 beneath the crust.
The old theories that mountains ar
due to the secular cooling and con
. traction OF the globe must therefor
be abandoned. The mountains ar
formed by the expulsion of lava from
beneath the sea. and hence they ar
parallel to the coast.
DIR. See conclude by q mathematical
inquiry that the age Of our incrustet
earth does not exceed some 100000
years. which is much shorter tim
& than geologists have generally allow
ed, He also finds that radium plays NJ