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Okhotsk a similar (a continuation of the same) carrent enters 

 through the Straits of La Perouse, similarly filling the abysses 

 and, in the eastern portion, continuing as a surface current 

 east and north. In the Bering Sea a similar current (originally 

 a part of the Kuro-Siwo) provides the water of the abysses and 

 also, directly and indirectly, makes itself felt in the western 

 portion. 



From these instances of the action of heavy water entering 

 an enclosed basin it seems not unreasonable to assume that the 

 heavy (though cold) water which we know as the South Pacific, 

 Peruvian or Humbolt current, having its origin in the antarctic 

 regions, flowing south of the Pacific first from west to east, then 

 gradually turning to the northward and continuing up the South 

 American coast is, as in the case of the heavy current flowing 

 northward along the east coast of the Sea of Japan, in reality 

 the actively moving border of an enormous mass of water slowly 

 moving from the antarctic regions, made a powerful surface 

 current first through the action of the strong west winds of the 

 extreme southern latitudes, and turned northward and kept as 

 a surface current through the effect of the earth's rotation, 

 which turns it to the left and forces it toward the South Ame- 

 rican coast, this at the same time, through geographical consi- 

 derations, resulting in an increase of velocity. 



In the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okotsk, and the Bering Sea 

 the water of the abysses, and the northward moving water 

 along the eastern shore, has its origin in a heavy, but warm, 

 water from the south. In the Pacific the water of the abysses, 

 and the northward moving water along the eastern shore, has 

 its origin in a similarly heavy, though cold, water from the 

 south. 



This apparent difference is in reality not a difference at all, 

 for. in dealing with currents and with the equilibrium of oceanic 

 water we are dealing only with the comparative specific gravities, 

 and are not in the least concerned with the question of thermal 

 values. 



There is no Pacific abyssal water in the Sea of Japan or in 

 the Sea of Okhotsk ; in these seas all the abyssal water is of 



