DEPTH OF THE OCEAN 33 



1700 fathoms. Towards the northern end the 

 ridge widens out and the water shallows to the 

 plateau on which the Azores are situated ; 

 farther north it merges into the " Telegraph 

 Plateau," which extends across nearly the 

 whole ocean from Ireland to Newfoundland. 



Another remarkable feature of the North 

 Atlantic is the series of submerged cones or 

 oceanic shoals made known off the north-west 

 coast of Africa between the Canary Islands 

 and the Spanish peninsula, of which we may 

 mention : the " Coral Patch " in lat. 34° 57' N., 

 long. 11°57'W., covered by 362 fathoms; 

 the " Dacia Bank " in lat. 31° 9' N., long. 

 13°34'W., covered by 47 fathoms; the 

 " Seine Bank " in lat. 33° 47' N., long. 14° 1' W., 

 covered by 81 fathoms ; the " Concepcion 

 Bank" in lat. 30° N. and long. 13° W., 

 covered by 88 fathoms ; the " Josephine 

 Bank " in lat. 37° N., long. 14° W., covered by 

 82 fathoms ; the " Gettysburg Bank " in 

 lat. 36° N., long. 12° W., covered by 34 

 fathoms. 



Precipitous slopes have been found round 

 some of these banks : thus on the western 

 edge of the " Coral Patch " the sinker dis- 

 tinctly struck bottom in 550 fathoms, tumbled 

 over and continued to sink, struck in 620 

 fathoms, again tumbled over, and finally 

 found a resting-place in 835 fathoms. When 

 o 



