THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. 39 



The whole extent of France and the English 

 Channel, of the British Isles and the North Sea, forms 

 one great plateau, which is terminated on the west and 

 on tlie north by a steep declivity. The following sec- 

 tion (fig. 11) will give an idea of what we mean. The 

 straight horizontal line represents the level of the 



Fig. 1 1 . — Profile of the Ocean Floor from the southernmost point of Xorwny, 

 via the Si raits of Dover, to the 10th degree of west longitude and tlie 47 Ui 

 dfgree of north latitude. 



sea. The irregular line beneath it represents the 

 bottom of the sea, which resembles a vast plateau or 

 block of table-land. Near the coast of Norway we 

 find the deep trough, or ravine, already mentioned. 

 To the left, the soil slopes off very gradually (inter- 

 rupted by a ridge, or bank, about the middle of the 

 Straits of Dover) ; but it deepens considerably in the 

 Channel, and then suddenly sinks away, and presents 



