﻿XXIII.— 
  ON 
  THE 
  NOMENCLATURE, 
  ORIGIN, 
  AND 
  DISTRIBUTION 
  

   OF 
  DEEP-SEA 
  DEPOSITS. 
  

  

  Bv 
  John 
  Murray 
  and 
  A. 
  Kenard. 
  

  

  [A 
  paper 
  read 
  before 
  the 
  Koyal 
  Society 
  of 
  Edinburgh.] 
  

  

  The 
  sea 
  is 
  unquestionably 
  the 
  most 
  powerful 
  dynamic 
  agent 
  on 
  the 
  

   surface 
  of 
  the 
  globe, 
  and 
  its 
  effects 
  are 
  deeply 
  imprinted 
  on 
  the 
  external 
  

   crust 
  of 
  our 
  planet 
  ; 
  but 
  among 
  the 
  sedimentary 
  deposits 
  which 
  are 
  

   attributed 
  to 
  its 
  action, 
  and 
  among 
  the 
  effects 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  wrought 
  on 
  

   the 
  surface 
  features 
  of 
  the 
  earth, 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  geologists 
  has, 
  till 
  

   within 
  quite 
  recent 
  times, 
  been 
  principally 
  directed 
  to 
  the 
  phenomena 
  

   which 
  take 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  land. 
  It 
  is 
  incon- 
  

   testable 
  that 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  along 
  coast 
  and 
  in 
  shallow 
  water 
  has 
  

   played 
  the 
  largest 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  formation 
  and 
  accumulation 
  of 
  those 
  

   marine 
  sediments 
  which, 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  can 
  observe, 
  form 
  the 
  principal 
  

   strata 
  of 
  the 
  solid 
  crust 
  of 
  the 
  globe 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  from 
  an 
  attentive 
  

   study 
  of 
  the 
  phenomena 
  which 
  take 
  place 
  along 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  modern 
  

   seas 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  reconstruct 
  in 
  some 
  degree 
  the 
  condi- 
  

   tions 
  under 
  which 
  the 
  marine 
  deposits 
  of 
  ancient 
  times 
  were 
  laid 
  down. 
  

  

  Attention 
  has 
  been 
  paid 
  only 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  limited 
  degree 
  to 
  deposits 
  of 
  

   the 
  same 
  order, 
  and, 
  for 
  the 
  greater 
  part, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  origin, 
  which 
  differ 
  

   from 
  the 
  sands 
  and 
  gravels 
  of 
  the 
  shores 
  and 
  shallow 
  waters 
  only 
  by 
  a 
  

   lesser 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  grains, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  laid 
  down 
  at 
  a 
  

   greater 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  laud 
  and 
  in 
  deeper 
  water. 
  And 
  still 
  less 
  

   attention 
  has 
  been 
  paid 
  to 
  those 
  true 
  deep-sea 
  deposits 
  which 
  are 
  only 
  

   known 
  through 
  systematic 
  submarine 
  investigations. 
  One 
  might 
  well 
  

   ask 
  what 
  deposits 
  are 
  now 
  taking 
  place, 
  or 
  have 
  in 
  past 
  ages 
  taken 
  

   place, 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  oceans 
  at 
  points 
  far 
  removed 
  from 
  

   land, 
  and 
  in 
  regions 
  where 
  the 
  erosive 
  and 
  transporting 
  action 
  of 
  water 
  

   has 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  influence. 
  Without 
  denying 
  that 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  tidal 
  

   Avaves 
  can, 
  under 
  certain 
  special 
  conditions, 
  exert 
  an 
  erosive 
  and 
  trans- 
  

   porting 
  power 
  at 
  great 
  depths 
  in 
  the 
  ocean, 
  especially 
  on 
  submerged 
  

   peaks 
  and 
  barriers, 
  it 
  is 
  none 
  the 
  less 
  certain 
  that 
  these 
  are 
  exceptional 
  

   cases, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  waves 
  is 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  

   coasts 
  of 
  emerged 
  land. 
  There 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  Pacific 
  immense 
  stretches 
  of 
  

   thousands 
  of 
  miles 
  where 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  encounter 
  any 
  land, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  

   Atlantic 
  we 
  have 
  similar 
  conditions. 
  What 
  takes 
  place 
  in 
  these 
  vast 
  

   regions 
  where 
  the 
  waves 
  exercise 
  no 
  mechanical 
  action 
  on 
  any 
  solid 
  

  

  [1] 
  759 
  

  

  