Evening star., 1955-03-07
Caribbean Called
Rich Ocean Pasture
Expedition to Chort
Plunt and Animal Life
By Thomos R. Henry


One of the worlds richest ocean
pastures is the Caribbean.
The variety and abundance Of its
plant and animal life will be deter
mined during the next four months by
a two-ship research expedition of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
This expedition also will map the con.
tour of the bottom rocks and the thick
ness of the carpet of sediment built up
over them through the milleniums. The
Caribbean contains one of the deepest
"holes" on earth. the so-called Puerto
Rico Deep"
For the mapping world q new pre-
cision echo recorder developed by
Woods Hole scientists which can deter
mine depth to an accuracy of one or
two feet in 10000 will be used.
The expedition also Is carrying q
newly developed acoustical view finder
for an underwater camera. large
steel frame which contains underwater
sound apparatus together with o deep
sea camera and electrical fash equip
ment can be lowered from the ship.
AS soon as an echo is received from
some sea animal the camera auto
matically will be focused on the source.
Echoes TO Be Studied.
This equipment is devised especially
to learn more about the kind of animals
responsible for the so-called false
bottoms" which now have been found
all over the world. Echoes are received
from depths which are far less than the
known bottom of the sea and they are
believed to come from hordes Of some
kind OF marine organisms.
There has been much disagreement
over the nature of these organisms.
Some have held that they are shrimps.
others squid, and still others have
maintained that they are a mixture Of
all sorts of animals, including some fish.
In the past it has not been possible
to maintain with any assurance that
animals photographed at about the time
false echoes are received actually are
the creA lures responsible.
4
Clouds are built up into titan storage
batteries over long periods to provide
the electricity Of lightning.
This is the conclusion of DR.. Bernard
Vonnegut, General Electric Co. pioneer
in rainmaking experiments. reported to
the American Meteorological Society.
The basic cause of lightning, which
kills 400 persons each year in the
United States and causes 10 per cent
of forest fires, still is not fully UNDER
stood. The new theory may throw
considerable light not only on lightning
itself but on the formation OF rain.
1t is we'll known, says DR.. Vonnegut.
who is now physicist employed by the
Arthur D. Little Co. of Cambridge,
Mass, that the lower atmosphere near
the earth's surface carries constantly
a small positive electrical charge.
Strong updrafts of air carry the posi-
lively charged air particles to higher
levels to form positively charged
clouds.
"BOOtstrap Operation"
These in turn attract negatively
charged particles from the high at
mosphere which are swept by down
drafts to the lower part of the cloud
Thus a positive upper surface and
negative lower surface are built up,
both constantly increasing the other.
Dr. Vonnegut describes it as boot
strap operation"
When the opposing charges become
great enough they produce lightning.
Long periods of build-up are necessary,
however, before the accunulations be-
come great enough for the great elec-
trical displays accompanying a storm.
This progressive electrification. DR..
Vonnegut believes, has some as yet un-
explained relation to the accumulation
of condensation particles necessary tor
the formation of rain.