The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1915-01-15
GENESIS OF WATER
The First Invisible vapor That En-.
veloped Our Globe.
AND ITS CHANGE. INTO STEAM.
How the Earth, Which Was Born Out
Of Mass Of Flaming Gases, Came to
Have its Surface Covered With .
Liquid Which Cannot Endure Fire.

The story Of the origin Of water In
wolves that Of the birth Of the earth.
According to the generally accepted
hypothesis, the earth was once mass
Of heated gases. which included, In one
form or another. every chemical ele-
ment that We know. Among these
gases were oxygen and hydrogen. the
two elements by whose combination
water is formed But there was no
water then because the heat was too
great to permit of the combination OF
oxygen and hydrogen. The elements
Of water were present. but not water
itself.
As the gaseous mass continued to
cool q temperature was reached at
which combination could begin to take
place, and then water appeared In the
form, not Of liquid, but Of an invisible
vapor which We call watery vapor.
Although oxygen ard hydrogen had
combined In this vapor. the heat was
still too great for II to condense into
the liquid state. With further cooling.
however, II did undergo a partial con-
densation into that form Of water
which we know as steam. At that time
the globe was probably a great white
hot ball, enveloped at vast height
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, sfioat as scalding
clouds!
The central mass continued to cool
and condenss. and It last when the
temperature Of the rocky crust that
had begun to form about 1t had de-
scended to about $40 degrees c.. the
first true water-that is, liquid water
appeared on the earth. 1t fell in hot
drops from the vapoIous envelope and
at 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 at water
formed great oceans Or perhaps at the
beginning one univ ,rsal ocean sur
rounding the entire 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 to
the very beginning of geological his
tory and antedates every period that
can be fixed with reas enable certainty.
These facts explain why the earth
has 30 great a quantity OF water and
where that water cane from.
1t Is believed that the oceans cannot
continue to exist for I'll 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 Of the moon,
as revealed by telescopes and by pho
Biography, shows that a globe may. as
far at least as its surface Is concerned.
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 earth's inte-
rior until the core Of the globe has be-
come relatively cool. At present the
internal heat is 80 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 Ia combination.
II we heat water to the boiling point
we turn 1t into steam. III We heat the
steam still further II becomes an In
visible vapor. which may be made so
hot that II will char piece OF paper
like a fame. On the other hand, IL we
cool water to the freezing point II
turns into brittle so.id-ice.
So If we had happened to be born In
a fiery hot world we should only have
known water as soaring vapor. capa-
BILE Of devouring met Ills like a strong
acid, and, on the col trary. II our lot
had been cast in al intensely cold
world our only knowledge Of water. as
a natural product, would have been in
the shape Of solid. harder than most
rocks-Garrett p. s'erviss In New
York Journal