The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1915-07-03
GENESIS Il:lliI:ji!i or WATER
The First Invisible vapor That En-
veloped Our Globe.
AND ITS CHANGE INTO STEAM.

Nav, the Earth, Which Was Born Out
ofa Mass Of Flaming Gases, Came to
Asxs ts Surface Covered With
Llauid Which Cannot Endure Fire.
Tho story OF the origin of water IN
,oIve. that of the birth of the caftn,
According to the generally ncc'pleu
hypothesis, the earth was once mass
Of heated gases, which included, In one
form or another, every chemical u'e-
ment that We know. Among theso
gases were oxygen and hydrogen tue
two elements by whose combination
water "a formed. But there was no
water then because the heat was 100
great TO permit OF the combinatioh oi
oxygen and hydrogen. The elements
of water were present, but not water
itself
As the gaseous mass continued o
cool a temperature was reacheu W
which combination could begin To lhke
place, and then water appeared III the
form. not of LIQUID, but OF an inNiSiole
ynpor which We call wntery NApor'
Although oxygen and hydrogen had
combined In this vapor, the heat was
still too great for Il TO condensc INTO
the liquid state. With further coollhg'
however. 1t did undergo partial con
tiensation into that form OF water
which we know as steam. At that time
the globe was probably II great whltc
hot ball enveloped at vast hclSht
above its surface with kissing shell
or envelope of steam. In this immense
steamy shell was contained. In the
vaporous form, all the water that the
future earth was to possess, The
oceans were there, afloat ms scalding
cloudsi
The central mass continued to cool
and condense. and Mt last when the
temperature OF the rocky crust that
had begun TO form about II had de-
scended TO about $40 degrees c.. the
first true water-that Is, liquid water
appeared on the earth. Ii fell In hot
drops from the vaporous envelope and
Mt first no doubt was instantly recon
verted into steam by contact with the
heated crust After awhile the crust
became SO cool that the descending
water could remain upon 1t in the liq-
uId state. Then the mighty rains fell
thicker and faster from the cOndensing
envelope until the accumulated water
formed great oceans or perhaps nt the
beginning one universal ocean sur
rounding the eAtire earth That would
depend upon the form OF the surface of
the crust at the time when the descent
OF the waters occurred. The origin OF
the present ocean basins goes back 10
the very beginning OF geological his
tory and antedates every period that
can be fixed with reasonable certainty.
These facts explain why the earth
has so great q quantity OF water and
where that water came from.
1t is believed that the oceans cannot
continue to exist for all time as we see
them today. The minerals constituting
the solid crust of the earth are contin-
ually absorbing water. II has been
calculated that granite contains two
gallons OF absorbed water IN every Gu
bic yard. The condition uf the moon,
as revealed by telescopes and by pho
tography, shows that n globe may, as
far at least as Its surface Is concernedf
become absolutely arid. no water what
ever remaining upon II, although In
ages past II may have been covered
with oceans.
The drying up process. however
must be a slow one. and no consider
able quantity OF the oceanic waters
can be absorbed into the enrths inte-
riOr until the core Of the globe has be-
come relatively cool. At present the
internal heat is so great that water
cannot penetrate to depth of more.
say, than twenty miles at the most. 1t
is only as the rocks cool that they be
gin to take up water In combination.
II we heat water TO the boiling point
we turn 1t into steam. II We heat the
steam still further 1t becomes mn in
visible vapor, which may be made so
hot that 1t will char Il piece of paper
like a fame. On the other hand, II we
cool water to the freezing point II
turns into brittle solid-ice.
SO II we had happened to be born In
a fiery hot world we should only have
known water as a soaring vapor, cnpa-
ble Of devouring metals like n strong
acid, and, on the contrary, II our lot
had been cast in an intensely cold
world our only knowledge Of water, as
a natural product, would have been In
the shape of a solid. harder than most
rocks.-Garrett +. Seryiss In New
York Journal.