Evening star., 1933-04-28
.UNDERSEA G0RGES
Of GREAT DEPTHS
NNORTH ATLANTIC
GeophysicaI Union Told Evil
dence They Were Cut
by Ancient Rivers.
.27 ARE DISCOVERED
EAST OF NEW ENGLAND
Continental Coast May Have Been
"Uplifted," Diminishing I'm
portance of Erosion.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.


depth measurements, were described
before the American Geophysical Union
meeting here today.
Evidence was presented that they
were cut through the rock by great
rivers In some distant geological period
just as similar canyons are being cut
today in the Rocky Mountains. But, it
was stressed, this has far-reaching geo.
logical implications on the history of
the continent. Methods were discussed
for testing thoroughly the river gorge
hypothesis before accepting conclusions
which would thoroughly upset current
ideas.
II these great valleys, sometimes
having depths greater than 10000 feet,
actually were cut by rivers the implica-
ton Is that the continental coast has
been "uplifted" and that erosion from
the mountain chains has not played such
q prominent part in building up the
continental shelf. the area Of shallow
water close to the coast. The con-
tinental shelf itself may have resulted
from erosion by the tributaries Of these
great rivers.
~ on New England.
There are no less than 27 such can
yons, including three very deep ones.
of the coast of New England, it was
pointed out by Prof. F. P. Shepard Of
the Geophysical Union. the very exist
ence Of which had not been suspected
up to three years ago. They now are
being intensively studied. One prob
lem to be solved, it vas stressed, is
whether they are active or dead rivers
Presumably they were very large, rapid
streams In some distant age, when they
were land rivers and the continent ex-
tended beyond its present coast.
II they are flowing today through the
sea, 1t was brought out in the discus
sion, the rate is very slow but still
capable of cutting the valleys deeper
and deeper through the ages and not
ably altering the contour of the sea
bottom. Determination Of the actual
condition may be made by extensive
drift experiments and analysis Of bot
tom samples.
There is some reason to believe that
there Is q succession of such deep sub
marine valleys along the coasts Of all
the continents, largely Independent Of
the great depths which may be near
them. but due to other causes. one,
which appears to be river origin,
reaches depth Of $4,000 feet in the
Bahamas, 1t was reported by DR.. H. H.
Hess Of Princeton University. The
drowned valleys are narrow and usually
have very steep sides. In one of the
Bahama gorges, DR.. Hess said, the sides
appear to be approximately vertical for
1000 feet or more. If they were not
covered by the sea these canyons would
be among the greatest wonders Vi
nature
The possibility of a predictable re-
lationshtp between the temperatures Of
the Gulf stream and those Of eastern
North America was reported by DR.. C.
F. Brooks Of Harvard University as a
result Of the study Of sea surface tenn
peratures taken over a period of severa.
i years by boats sailing regularly between
New York City and San Juan, Porto
Rico. A large part of this route lies
through the Gulf stream. Brooks found
fairly good correlation between the
daily variations of these temperatures
and the atmospheric temperatures taken
over the same period at the Blue Hill
Observatory Of Harvard University.
Changes In Temperature.
Generally, he reported. q fall in the
temperature Of the Gulf stream was
followed by q drop in the temperature
exists with the temperatures Of warm
waters OIL the Antilles. II this correla-
ton can be verified by further obser-
| vations It may prove an important
feature in weather forecasting. It
seems to prove, DR.. Brooks said, that
there Is some casual relation between
| the Gulf stream and the climate OF the
Eastern United States.
The observations show. he said. that
| there has been no change in the course
of the gulf stream. A purported shift
westward has been advanced as one rea-
son for the exceptionally warm weather
Of the past few years. To the contrary,
DR.. Brooks found, the cold water walls
Of the great ocean stream have re-
manned quite stable during recent years.
| ing during the next 10 years as q result
of studying the actual properties Of air
masses over the North American conti-
nent were predicted by DR.. H. C. Will
lett of the Massachusetts, Institute of
Technology. The method has been
| worked out mathematically In Norway,
but for its local application depends on
intensive study Of the composition of
local air masses. There are funda-
mentally, DR.. Willett pointed out, two
great masses over North America which
come into contact and are responsible
for the weather. One is the cold polar
| torial air mass. He has found, how
ever. that the cold air mass over the
Northwest has quite different properties
from the cold air over New England
The former, he believes, may be influ-
enced by the warmer waters Of the
North Pacific.
Cosmic Ray Survey.
The present status Of the world Co.'S
mic ray survey, which seeks definitely
to nix the nature Of these intensely
penetrating invisible rays, was reported