OCEAN CURIOSITIES.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 348, 31 December 1915, Page 2

OCEAN CURIOSITIES.

A very smr.ll or -a of the occ- n ■’bout 7 per cent., is Jess than 600 ft. in depth, and more than 60 per cent is more than two and a half miles in depth. About forty-three places havbeen discovered in the ocean where the depth of water is over three and a half miles. The deepest spot so far discovered was located by the United States cable ship Nero, near the island of Gnhm, whore the wate> was six miles deep. The general impression given from sea-bathing is that the temperature of the water is comparatively high. As a matter of fact, the scientists estimate that 92 per ceno. of sea water is below 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The water on the surface is considerably warmer, and the shallow seas have a higher temperature than the deep ones.

At every depth of the ocean some form of afimal life has boon discover-

ed which varies its character with the deptli below the surface. At the depth of two miles the weight of the water is more than two tons to a square inch, or more than 200 times that or the surface. All plant-life ceases at a depth of 300 ft., but below this point many forms of animal-life have been discovered.