﻿MAR. 
  4, 
  1922 
  PARIS: 
  SOME 
  PROBLEMS 
  OF 
  THE 
  SEA 
  121 
  

  

  more 
  comprehensive 
  the 
  investigations 
  can 
  be 
  made, 
  the 
  more 
  eco- 
  

   nomically 
  will 
  the 
  results 
  be 
  obtained. 
  

  

  Oceanography 
  as 
  this 
  term 
  is 
  now 
  applied 
  is 
  not 
  an 
  old 
  science. 
  

   Some 
  twenty 
  years 
  ago 
  Sir 
  John 
  Murray 
  - 
  said 
  of 
  it 
  : 
  

  

  The 
  recognition 
  of 
  oceanography 
  as 
  a 
  distinct 
  branch 
  of 
  science 
  may 
  be 
  

   said 
  to 
  date 
  from 
  the 
  commencement 
  of 
  the 
  Challenger 
  investigations. 
  The 
  

   fuller 
  knowledge 
  we 
  now 
  possess 
  about 
  all 
  oceanic 
  phenomena 
  has 
  had 
  a 
  

   great 
  modifying 
  influence 
  on 
  many 
  general 
  conceptions 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  nature 
  and 
  

   extent 
  of 
  those 
  changes 
  which 
  the 
  crust 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  is 
  now 
  undergoing 
  and 
  

   has 
  undergone 
  in 
  past 
  geologic 
  times. 
  Our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  is 
  still 
  

   very 
  incomplete. 
  So 
  much 
  has, 
  however, 
  been 
  acquired 
  already, 
  that 
  the 
  

   historian 
  will, 
  in 
  all 
  probability, 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  oceanographical 
  discoveries 
  

   during 
  the 
  past 
  forty 
  years 
  as 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  knowledge 
  

   of 
  our 
  planet 
  since 
  the 
  great 
  geographical 
  voyages 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  names 
  

   of 
  Columbus, 
  DaGama, 
  and 
  Magellan 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  fifteenth 
  and 
  the 
  

   beginning 
  of 
  the 
  sixteenth 
  centuries. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  probably 
  no 
  longer 
  any 
  frontiers 
  on 
  land 
  or 
  sea 
  to 
  ex- 
  

   plore, 
  except 
  perhaps 
  some 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  polar 
  areas, 
  yet 
  upon 
  the 
  

   sea 
  there 
  is 
  one 
  region 
  of 
  two 
  million 
  square 
  miles 
  that 
  has 
  never 
  felt 
  

   a 
  cast 
  of 
  the 
  sounding 
  line, 
  nor 
  much 
  of 
  other 
  investigation. 
  

  

  The 
  extreme 
  depth 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  has 
  probably 
  been 
  approximately 
  

   approached, 
  and 
  now 
  turns 
  out 
  to 
  be 
  somewhat 
  in 
  excess 
  of 
  5300 
  

   fathoms 
  (31,800 
  feet), 
  somewhat 
  more 
  below 
  sea 
  level 
  than 
  the 
  high- 
  

   est 
  elevation 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  above 
  the 
  sea 
  ; 
  thus 
  making 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  the 
  

   highest 
  mountain 
  about 
  ten 
  geographic 
  miles 
  above 
  the 
  deepest 
  

   known 
  "deep" 
  of 
  the 
  ocean. 
  

  

  While 
  we 
  now 
  have 
  much 
  information 
  about 
  the 
  physical 
  geog- 
  

   raphy 
  of 
  the 
  oceans 
  and 
  detailed 
  surveys 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  of 
  their 
  

   borders 
  in 
  the 
  more 
  advanced 
  countries 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  there 
  yet 
  re- 
  

   mains 
  the 
  larger 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  coasts 
  to 
  be 
  surveyed 
  and 
  mapped 
  by 
  

   such 
  modern 
  methods 
  and 
  equipment 
  as 
  will 
  meet 
  present 
  and 
  future 
  

   requirements 
  of 
  science, 
  engineering, 
  and 
  commerce; 
  especially 
  is 
  

   this 
  true 
  of 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Ocean, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  polar 
  regions. 
  

  

  A 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  basins 
  is 
  fundamental 
  

   to 
  almost 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  branches 
  that 
  go 
  to 
  make 
  up 
  the 
  whole 
  science 
  of 
  

   the 
  sea, 
  and, 
  together 
  with 
  other 
  physical 
  facts, 
  is 
  a 
  guide 
  to 
  many 
  

   industrial 
  possibilities 
  existing 
  therein. 
  

  

  I 
  think 
  that 
  there 
  can 
  be 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  accurate 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  of 
  the 
  form' 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  basins 
  has 
  already 
  retarded 
  industrial 
  

   progress, 
  commercial 
  development, 
  and 
  scientific 
  and 
  cultural 
  ad- 
  

   vancement 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  ^ 
  President's 
  address, 
  Section 
  E 
  (Geography), 
  Brit. 
  Assoc. 
  Report 
  for 
  1899. 
  

  

  