Evening star., 1933-08-20
GE0DET|C SURVEY
TO|NCREASE SCOPE
Charting of Submarine Won.
derIand Planned Under
Public Works Funds.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
Charting a submarine wonderland OF
vast canyons, towering peaks, volcanoes,
mineral springs and other strange works
of nature will be an incidental side
line" in the spending Of the public
works funds recently allotted to the
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Parts of this wonderland, nvaling
any scenery on shore despite the fact
it is hidden deep beneath the sea. al
ready have been discovered in the proc
ess of the Coast Surveys work of chart
ing the coasts and ship lanes of the
United States and its possessions. With
the extensive new survey scheduled un-
der the recovery program, additional
undersea marvels may be brought to
light.
Finds Hudson Canyon"
The. Grand Canyon Of the Hudson" :"
a mighty gorge rivaling the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado, but buried be-
meath the sea, has been found by the
coast survey of the coast where the
Hudson River empties into New York
harbor. This canyon. it is believed, was
the course of the river millions OF years
ago before the Eastern seaboard sub
sided and brought the shore line to its
present location.
When Ponce de Leon was sailing
along the Florida coast in search OF the
Storied fountain of youth he may have
unknowingly sailed directly past the
gigantic ocean spring which bubbles up
2l2 miles off shore and miles south
of the City of st. Augustine.
The spring sends up millions OF gal
Ions of fresh mineral water from the
sea bottom at a general depth OF IS
feet. The bubbling Of the water pro-
duces an effect on the ocean surface
that can be seen for q distance OF .
mile. A strong odor, similar to that OF
the sulphur springs Of Florida, can
sometimes be detected from distance
of miles.
The water comes up with such force
it is difficult to hold a boat over the
spot. On land the spring probably
would be a geyser. 1t emerges from a
hole about 25 feet in diameter and 70
feet deep below the ocean bed.
Find Hidden Oil Springs.
California has a number of oil springs
near its southern coasts. One of these
is in the southern part Of Santa Monica
Bay and near the head of deep sub
marine valley. The Oil comes up from
a depth of rs fathonls and covers a
considerable area.
Another oil spring occurs in the Santa
Barbara Channel. short distance West
of the city of Santa Barbara. There
the smell of petroleum was so strong
that the adjacent point was named
Coal Oil Point" Early surveyors OF
these waters reported the odor of oil
was almost overpowerlng.
Nautical charts also show the char
acter of the bottom, and at one point
in Alaska the charts show a bottom OF
gold dust. This is about 18 miles
southeast of Juneau. in Stephens Pas
sage. at a depth of 900 feet. Thus far
no one has devised machine to dredge
at such a great depth.
Another curious feature of the Alas
kan waters are the so-called pinnacle
rocks These lurking dangers often ex-
tend to within few feet Of the surface
and have been the cause Of several ship
wrecks. Their menace is so great that
the main ship channels were swept with
wire drag and the pinnacles charted
One pinnacle has been found which
rises from general depth of 900 feet
to within II feet Of the surface. This
pinnacle. higher than the Washington
Monument. has been named the Wash
ington Monument Rock.