The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-11-18

ten millions of years old. The shaping
of her mountains, islands and plateaus,
and the generation, of her earthquakes,
volcanoes and seismic sea waves have
resulted not from contractions due to
earth's cooling. but by explosions of
steam generated by ocean water leak
ing through her crust. These theories,
attacking established notions as to the
past and future .of earth, have just
been announced to his feIlow-scientists
by the welI-known astronomer, DR.. T.
j. ]. See, professor of mathematics,
United States Navy.
HOW OUR OCEANS LEAK.
Our ocean bottoms are leaking
through earth's crust; and this crust
is composed of from ten to twenty
miles of solid rock, like granite, ac-
cording to Prof. See. This leakage is
going on from age to age and is not
periodic The enormous pressure of our
oceans enables their water to filter
through a rocky shell of such a thick
ness as twenty miles. Just beneath
this solid crust lies molten rock, or
what we commonly call lava. The wa
ter leaking from the sea on encour-
tering this hot lava generates steam,
which at times causes explosions.
These commissions are the only cause
of earthquakes and volcanoes. IF other
vapor besides steam is at work be-
r1-t7x
cape through the vents of volcanoes,
asks DIR. See. And, if this steam comes
from the central materials of the globe,
why do not volcanoes and earthquakes
occur in the interior of continents, as
well as along the coasts, on islands
and in the depths of the sea?
HOW MOUNTAINS ARE FORMED.
When the tension of the imprisoned
steam under the oceans becomes very
great, it finally causes the earth's crust
TO yield along the oceans margins, and
mountains are pushed up where the
crust breaks parallel to the coast.
When an avenue of escape is thus
once opened for the lava, it continues
active and the mountains grow higher
and higher, unless meanwhile the sea
recedes to too great a distance. The
maps of the ocean depths compiled by
our coast and geodetic survey show
how the earthquake belts of the world,
as laid down by the great authority,
Prof Milne. follow the deep trenches
of the sea. These trenches are very
long, narrow and deep, and are exactly
paralleled by chains of islands rising
out of the sea-mountain ranges under
water The expulsion of lava from un-
der these trenches has raised all adj
| jacent mountain ridges. and when thus
undermined the sea bottom has sunk,
according to Dr. See. Thus mountain
ranges are formed in the sea and are
eventually raised above the water, and
hence they run SO exactly parallel to
the shore.
HIMAIlAYAS ARE GROWING.
| The HimaIayas were formed by the
! expulsion of lava from beneath the In
dian ocean The effect of the ocean
| there has not ceased and is still grad
ually raising the Himalayas. The ele-
walton of the Andes, too, has been caus-
ed by lavas being expelled from be-
meath the sea and pushed up under
the land.
| The established theory, accounting
quakes hitherto, is that as the earth
/ has cooled the interior molten mass
| has contracted or shrunk away from
the crust just as the water of a frozen
river falls below the ice on top. The
crust has then collapsed from time to
time. forming enormous rents and ifs
sures through which molten rock exud-
ed and formed mountains.
But there has been no sensible con-
traction in the earth's crust since our
globe attained its present dimensions,
according to DIR. See.
HOW EARTH WAS MADE.
1t seems likely that in the forma-
ton of earth meteorites and finer
planetary dust came together at such
rate that the whole new planat thus
constituted was made to glow, its
greatest heat being at the center.
Then as our planet grew in mass by
the addition of other materials derived
from meteorites its pressure increased
also and eventually became so great
as to prevent circulation of those heat
! currents caused by wafmer materials
rising to the top. AT length the sur
face. gradually cooled by radiation,
grew dense and solid, and thus arose
the lncruSted eartn. only One-halt or
the original heat caused by the con-
densation of the sphere has probably
been radiated away, and an equal
amount therefore probably remains
stored up inside earth's crust. Observ-
atoms seem to prove that in transmit
ting earthquake waves our globe be-
HAYES as if it were a solid through
out, which indicates that the molten
matter under the crust is under such
pressure that it acts as an elastic
solid. Great increase of pressure to-
ward the center gives it an enormous
rigidity. probably between that of
Bessemer steel and nickel steel This
indicates that no currents cam circu-
late at great depths, and it is OBJ
viously untrue. as some biologists
imagine, that liquid lava is expelled
from deep down in our globe.
The roots of our volcanoes are sell
dom deeper than twenty miles, DIR. See
said. Lavas have not come up from
great depths since earths crust began
TO form. No currents were stirring
at any considerable depth even when
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