Evening star., 1924-09-22
In THE SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

The United States Navy. with the
cooperation of practically all other
departments of our Government, is
considering the taking of an inven-
tory Of the oceans. beginning the
survey in the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean Sea 1t is hoped that
Congress will be broad enough to
give the funds necessary for a five
year enterprise of this very impor-
tant character. No mariner claims to
know the nature of the deep
whether the ooze at the bottom is
what lives in it.
One of the greatest oceanographers
has said that the oceans, which cover
five-SeventhS of the surface of the
globe, provide more food for man
than does the land. Within the last
few days a leading scientist stated
that, until recently, science had had
little conception of how varied. in
their chemical contents, are the
waters of the ocean, for the water
is not merely a salt and HiO.
What treasures of gold and other
precious metals are buried therein!
What argosies of wealth lie upon the
slopes of it's mountains and in it's
deep valleys! What gems the dark,
unfathomed caves of ocean bear"
We may learn to mine the rich veins
of this virgin world which is two
and half times as vast as all the
land areas of the globe.
Throughout the Gulf of Mexico
there are spots where oil is oozing
up, and it will be one of the OBJ
jectives Of the Navy to discover just
where oil shafts may be sunk to ad-
vantage.
1t is only within the present gene
ration that we have had scientific
weather bureaus, by which, through
many widespread observations of air
currents and conditions, storms may
be forecast. No one has yet gather
ed data as to the changing currents
and water conditions beneath the
surface of the ocean, though 1t may
be reasonable to expect such vast in
fluences to affect storms and tenn
perature as do corresponding me-
neurological influences of the air.
Our globe is not solid, but plastic
1t is ever changing it's form. Ocean
ographers have learned of the sur
face currents, and they are charted
with fair accuracy. But there are
uncharted perpendicular currents
which bring to the surface the icy
change the directions Of the surface
currents. Volcanoes Of the sea bot
tom erupt and lift valleys into
plateaus, shifting the trend of the
deep strata currents, and new ISLANDS
are brought to the surface or dan
gerously near sea level, where ships
are in danger of being dashed to
pieces upon their uncharted shores
X X X +
The comparatively recent inven-
tions of the radio have changed the
means of studying the ocean depths
Formerly, a lead was sunk and the
line was measured; this was not ac-
curate because the sway OF the line,
sometimes miles in length, depended
upon unknown currents in the deep.
Such measurements are now MADE
with a sonic instrument, based upon
the length of time it takes for an
echo to return from the bottom after
the explosion of bomb on the wa
ters surface. Not only Is the &C
curacy greater, but the speed OF
| taking sounding is Immensely in
creased.
The Navy has found great difficulty
| in surveying off of foggy coasts, be-
cause it is necessary to record the
| location of the ship as well as depths
| to make soundings of practical value.
| The problem has been solved within
| the last six months by the United
States Bureau of Standards, so that
| accurate soundings can now be in
stantly made, even in the densest fog.
When the sonic instrument ex-
plodes a bomb, the sound that echoes
back from the ocean bottom is
measured with an accuracy allowing
error not to exceed five feet to a
| mile At the same time the sound
| travels to two radio stations estab-
| lished at different points on shore,
| where, at once, it is broadcast
back to the ship. While the SOUND
| travels through the water at speed
Of about 400 feet per second, 1t
| comes back by radio with the speed
of light-1s5, 900 miles a second, or,
practically, instantaneously: hence,
all elapsed time is credited to the
| sound travelling shoreward.
, Distance is found hZ multiplying