﻿OCEANOGRAPHY 
  — 
  STETSON 
  227 
  

  

  fantastic 
  figures 
  appear 
  for 
  mid-Atlantic 
  soundings 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  at- 
  

   tributed 
  to 
  this 
  cause. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  attempts 
  that 
  can 
  claim 
  even 
  approximate 
  accuracy 
  at 
  

   depths 
  exceeding 
  1,000-1,500 
  fathoms 
  were 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   Navy 
  by 
  using 
  a 
  light 
  line 
  and 
  a 
  heavy 
  weight. 
  It 
  was 
  easy 
  to 
  tell 
  

   when 
  bottom 
  had 
  been 
  reached 
  by 
  the 
  sharp 
  check 
  in 
  the 
  rate 
  at 
  which 
  

   the 
  line 
  ran 
  out. 
  The 
  line 
  was 
  then 
  cut, 
  and 
  no 
  attempt 
  was 
  made 
  to 
  

   retrieve 
  it 
  or 
  the 
  sinker. 
  The 
  depth 
  was 
  ascertained 
  by 
  the 
  simple 
  

   method 
  of 
  measuring 
  the 
  remainder. 
  The 
  next 
  important 
  advance, 
  

   made 
  by 
  a 
  midshipman 
  named 
  Brooke, 
  eliminated 
  the 
  obvious 
  draw- 
  

   backs 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  method. 
  Still 
  using 
  a 
  light 
  line, 
  the 
  weight 
  — 
  a 
  

   cannon 
  ball 
  with 
  a 
  hole 
  through 
  it 
  — 
  was 
  released 
  when 
  it 
  landed 
  on 
  

   bottom, 
  and 
  the 
  sounding 
  tube 
  — 
  a 
  metal 
  cylinder 
  which 
  passed 
  

   through 
  the 
  ball 
  — 
  alone 
  was 
  hauled 
  to 
  the 
  surface. 
  Simple 
  as 
  this 
  

   seems 
  from 
  the 
  vantage 
  point 
  of 
  today, 
  this 
  scheme 
  of 
  detaching 
  the 
  

   weight 
  made 
  the 
  difference 
  between 
  accurate 
  and 
  inaccurate 
  sound- 
  

   ings 
  in 
  deep 
  water. 
  Piano 
  wire 
  soon 
  replaced 
  hemp, 
  again 
  with 
  an 
  

   increase 
  in 
  the 
  accuracy 
  of 
  the 
  results 
  and 
  a 
  great 
  reduction 
  in 
  the 
  

   time 
  required 
  for 
  sounding, 
  as 
  the 
  frictional 
  effect 
  of 
  the 
  water 
  on 
  

   rope 
  was 
  thereby 
  eliminated. 
  The 
  machines 
  for 
  handling 
  the 
  wire 
  

   have 
  been 
  greatly 
  improved 
  since 
  Sir 
  William 
  Thomson's 
  first 
  at- 
  

   tempt, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  became 
  possible 
  to 
  take 
  a 
  sounding 
  in 
  a 
  small 
  frac- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  formerly 
  required. 
  This 
  method 
  remained 
  in 
  gen- 
  

   eral 
  use 
  until 
  the 
  perfection 
  of 
  echo 
  sounding 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  decade. 
  

   In 
  the 
  literature 
  perhaps 
  too 
  much 
  stress 
  has 
  been 
  laid 
  on 
  the 
  sound- 
  

   ings 
  made 
  by 
  various 
  oceanographic 
  expeditions. 
  An 
  enormous 
  

   amount 
  has 
  been 
  done 
  in 
  deep 
  water 
  by 
  government 
  vessels, 
  and, 
  of 
  

   course, 
  all 
  near-shore 
  and 
  shallow-water 
  surveying 
  is 
  a 
  government 
  

   undertaking. 
  Nor 
  should 
  the 
  cable 
  ships 
  be 
  forgotten. 
  They, 
  like- 
  

   wise, 
  have 
  played 
  an 
  important 
  part 
  in 
  charting 
  the 
  oceans 
  — 
  a 
  fact 
  

   not 
  generally 
  appreciated 
  — 
  for 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  need 
  for 
  a 
  better 
  knowledge 
  

   of 
  the 
  ocean 
  bottoms 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  laying 
  cables 
  that 
  first 
  stimu- 
  

   lated 
  systematic 
  deep-water 
  sounding. 
  

  

  RISE 
  OF 
  MODERN 
  TRENDS 
  

  

  By 
  1900 
  the 
  broad 
  configuration 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  basins 
  had 
  been 
  mapped 
  

   and 
  all 
  the 
  major 
  deeps 
  had 
  been 
  discovered 
  and 
  charted. 
  This, 
  plus 
  

   a 
  very 
  general 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  sediments, 
  particu- 
  

   larly 
  the 
  pelagic 
  oozes, 
  comprised 
  the 
  chief 
  contributions 
  to 
  geology 
  

   before 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  what 
  we 
  shall 
  call 
  the 
  modern 
  period. 
  The 
  other 
  

   sciences, 
  especially 
  biology, 
  had 
  advanced 
  much 
  farther 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  in- 
  

   terval. 
  This 
  lag 
  is 
  largely 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  few 
  geologists 
  paid 
  any 
  

   attention 
  to 
  the 
  sea, 
  except 
  around 
  its 
  margins. 
  They 
  seemed 
  to 
  regard 
  

   oceanography 
  as 
  lying 
  outside 
  the 
  boundaries 
  of 
  their 
  particular 
  do- 
  

  

  