The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1914-01-31
UNDER THE OCEAN
Changes In the Sea Floor From
Shore 10 Shore.
the BIG MID.ATLANTlc RIDGE,

% starts at ieslsnd and eiseets the
Ocean Down Almost to Cape Horn
IN Pisess u Risss Above the Surface,
Fsr~ins Groups ef islands
A sketch Of the landscape" Of the
oceeT. bed Is given by Dr. A. T. ship
,ey In an article In the Edinburgh Re
view:
The passengers and the crew OF u
liner racing over the surface OF the
Atlantic are apt to Imagine that under
them IL a vast layer Of water of vary
ing depth sparsely inhabited 10y n Few
nsh. As matter OF fact, the whole OF
this great ocean Is teeming with life
n instead OF taking ship we could take
30 the water aud walk across the bed
of the Atlantic to America. starting
from the shores OF western Europe. We
should In effect he travelling through a
succession of new Countries. Not only
would the surrounding physical condi.
lions vary as we advanced. but the
animal and plant life would vary In
correlation with the altering physical
conditions.
-walking farther and farther toward
the depths OF the Atlantic, we should
soon lose all sight OF the algue, and the
shallow water hsh--the plalce and sole,
whiting. skates, dogfsh and others and
cod-would give way TO the megrim
and the hake. The sea floor would
gradually change from rock or gravel
or stones TO sands and ultimately to
mud or oozes OF various tints. their
original colors often modified by the
action Of the decomposition OF organic
particles in them and on them. Al
thess finer deposits are derived from
the neighboring land and are blown
seaward by ofshore winds or washed
down BY rains and streams and carried
out to the sea by rivers.
The distance 10 which nne mn tier In
suspension may be carried Is very
great The Kongo Is said TO carry Its
Characteristic mud as far out 10 sea as
600 miles, and the Ganges and the
Indus as far as 1000 miles.
Except In the nelghborhood OF such
great rivers a subaqueous traveller
would soon pass beyond what Sir John
Murray has called the mud line a
line that limits the terrigenous deposits
everywhere surrounding dry land
Having reached this limit. we must
proceed warily, for at the mud line.
at an average depth OF a hundred
fAthoms. We shall ind ourselves at the
edge Of the continental shelf. that rim
which extends seaward 10 a varying
distance from all land areas. the rim
on which Great Britain rests. BEYOND
lies the continental slope. a precipice
more or less abrupt and more or less
high. descending by steep declines or
terraced cliffs until depths Of 1000
fathoms are reached.
The Atlantic. compared with the
other great oceans. has an unusually
large area OF comparatively shallow
water. OF its total area 27-5 per cent
is covered by water less than 1000
fathoms deep; IS per cent lies between
loo and 1000 fathoms and Al per cent
between 1000 and 5000 fathoms; the
remaining rs per cent is still deeper
AT the foot OF the continental slope
lies an iilimitable plain OF uniform
dull, grayish bun color. fat and fea-
tureiess as the desert. and only diversi-
ned by an occasional as yet uncovered
rock or wreck or the straight line Of a
recently laid cable This plain con
tinues with scarcely a change I'm seen
cry or In level until we approach the
great mid-AtIantic ridge As Bruce
has shown. this ridge, which roughly
bisects the Atlantic. extends from Ice
land as far south as fifty-three degrees
of south latitude. with slight and
quite inexplicable break Just under the
equator. The ridge runs almost parallel
with the eastern contour Of North and
South America, which. In turn. as the
ordinary map will show. roughly cor
responds with the western contour Of
Europe and Africa. From time 70 time |
the ridge rises above the surface OF the |
water. as in the Azores group. ST
Paufs rocks, Ascension. Tristan da |
C9uha and Cough island.
Having ascended the eastern and |
the western slope Of this |
ridge. we should again |
trsverse plains Of grayish ooze far
more extensive than any level land |
Lract known to geographers. and as we
the American coast we
Rhocid gradually pass through. In re
verse order. the zones OF life traversed
when leaving Europe. On the eastern
roask Of America the slope Is much
more gradual than on the western
coast Of southern Europe and Africa"