44 THE OCEAN 



millions of cubic miles, and the volume of 

 the entire terrestrial sphere at 259,850 

 millions of cubic miles. The amount of 

 material carried from the land into the ocean 

 in suspension and in solution has been esti- 

 mated at 3-7 cubic miles per annum; at this 

 rate of degradation it would take about 

 6,340,000 years to transport the whole of the 

 solid land down to the sea. 



The volume of the ocean at the present day is 

 to the volume of the whole sphere as 1 to 800, 

 and, regarding the globe as covered by an 

 ocean two miles in depth, the volume of that 

 ocean would be to the volume of the sphere 

 as 1 to 666. 



