The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-01-06
LEAKS IN FARMERS CRUST.
THIS is BASIS OF PROF. SEES
THEORY OF SEISMIC PHE-
NOMENA.
ga Idea OF Volcanic Origin OF
Vuakes Now Displaced, Contends
Mare Island Expert.


New York, Dec. 30.-The New York
Sun today prints the following ar
ticle:
according to report from Rome
the Straits Of Messina have shifted
materially" and the geography, of
Southern Italy has been changed bv
the earthquake. AS Prof. j. II. T. See.
OF the Mare Island Observatory. writau.
"magnificent experiments are COZ
stantiy going on in the great labora-
tory OF nature" He contends that
there is a constant leakage of water
through the bed Of the ocean in
places-that is to say, through the
earth's crust, resulting in earthquakes
and idal waves. In explaining his
theory Prof. See asys:
If we admit on the basis of expe.
rimental evidence that water can pen
citrate thin layers of granite the ques-
ton naturally arises: Can it also pen.
citrate layer of granite Is or 20
miles thick? It seems obvious that II
can. because for small or moderate
pressures water is nearly incompres-
sible and would not sensibly increase
In density II it went down into the
globe. The fluid which passed
through the upper layer of granite
would therefore keep on descending.
under the increasing fluid pressure
from above, and at length the whole
layer would be saturated and per-
spring below with a steady leakage
which would give rise to tremendous
steam power in the underlying molten
rock. Thus great stresses due to slow
accumulation Of steam would develop
In the layer just beneath the crust
and this would give rise to earth
qvakes and mountain formation"
This theory that the source of earth
Quakes is the bed of the sea and that
the water leaking into and coursine
under the crhst Of the earth is con-
vesF,se into staSsSs s'sat .sssskss ana
rends the surface apaM wherever il
finds vent or wherever the crust
is thin and porus is not new, although,
Prof See is its most industrious and
able advocate. 1t is opposed to the
volcanic origin of earthquakes and to
fhs theory that they result from the
subsistence of the earth's crust where
there IL a. fault.
in his work on "Seismology" Prot.
Milne, great authority, says thar
an analysis Of some 10000 observa-
tions in Japan shows that by far great
er number of earthquakes originated
beneath the ocean or along the sea.
board. "and as they ladiated inland
they became more and more feeble
until on reaching the backbone of tho
country, which is drilled by numerous
volcanic vents. they were almost i'm
perceptible."
Prof. Milne gives the following de-
scription of topography where earth
quakes and tidal waves are likely To
occur:
districts where earthquakes, often
followed by, submarine disturbances
are most frequent are regions like .he
northeast portion of Japan and the
South American coast, between Val
paraiso and Iquique. Here We have
double folding. The seabed, as ii
approaches the shore line, instead o:
rising gradually, sinks. downward to
form trough parallel to the coast
after which it rises to culrnniate ir
mountain ranges. The South Ameri-
can trough, which lies within so or
go miles off the coast. like the Tus.
carora deep off Japan. attains depths
of over 1000 fathoms, and the bot
toms OF these double folds are we'll
known origins of earthquakes and
see waves"
To recur to Prof See, he observes
that 1893 in 1000 parts of the vapors
emitted by volcanoes are steam, as If
produced by the leakage of the oceans,
near which the volcanic vents are al
ways situated" The tremendous up
ward force Of the steam in volumes
incOnceivable has in the past torn the
earth's crust apart and hurled 1t into
mountain ranges. Prof. Milne, in a
lecture before the Royal Society on
March IL, 1905, stated that the chief
seismic region lay ION the westward
suboceanic frontier OF the American
and the eastern frontier of the
Asiatic continents and on
band passing from the West Indies