St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1915-04-21

| TOW the EarfHs WnGcn was 9oFu III
Of Mass of Flaming Gases, Came tc
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 N
As the gaseous mass continued to
cool a 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 and hydrogen had
com ined in this vapor. the heat was
still too great for it to condense into
the liquid state. With further cooling.
however, it 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 a vast height
above its surface with a 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, afioat as scalding
clouds!
The central mass continued to cool
and condenSe. and at last when the
temperature Of the rocky crust that
had begun to form about it 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 vaporous 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 it in the IiQ-
uid state. Then the mighty rains fell
thicker and faster from the condensing
envelope until the accumulated water
formed great oceans or perhaps at the
beginning one universal 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 reasonable certainty
These facts explain why the earth
has so great 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 1t 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 il concerned.
become absolutely arid. no water what
ever remaining upon it, although in
ages past it 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 int
rior until the core of the globe has be-
come relatively cool. AT present the |
heat is so great that water
cannot penetrate to a 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.
If we heat water to the boiling point
we turn it into steam. If we heat the
steam still further it becomes an in
visible vapor, which may be made SO
hot that it will char a piece of paper
like fame. On the other hand, if we
cool water to the freezing point it
turns into a brittle solid-ice.
So if we had happened to be born in
a fiery hot world we should only have
known water as a soaring vapor, capa-
BILE of devouring metals like a strong
acid, and, on the contrary. If our lot
had been cast in an intensely cold
world our only knowledge of water, as
4 natural product, would have been in
the shape of a solid. harder than most T.
P. Serviss in New
York Journal