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84 THE OCEAN.
first recognized its existence. It carries with it large icebergs, often laden with stones and fragments^that have fallen from the Antarctic mountains, and by the coldness of its waters produces a remarkable lowering
of the temperature in all the countries whose shores it bathes. This liquid mass, which has a depth of no less than 670 fathoms on the coast of
Chili, gives to the vegetation of the country a remarkable analogy with
that of St. Helena, which at a distance of 4000 miles is washed by another branch of the Antarctic current. Humboldt and Duperrey state, that
off the coasts of Callao and Guayaquil—that is to say, in one of the driest
climates and most exposed to the rays of the sun—the current is on an
average at from 59° to 60° Fahr., while the adjacent seas are about 20°
warmer. Not a branch of coral can take root on the rocks and shores
washed by this current of cold water: the polar current changes every
thing on its passage—the flora, fauna, climate, and even the history of
mankind. If the air was not constantly refreshed by the contact of cold
water coming from the pole, Peru, which is so rarely watered by rain,
would be transformed into another Desert of Sahara, and human life
would become almost impossible there. By this current, too, the distances are notably diminished, and Valparaiso, Coquimbo, Arica, Callao,
are, in reality, less distant from Europe than they appear on the map; for
after having rounded Cape Horn, the ships sailing along the western
coasts of South America are carried about fifteen to twenty miles a day
by this current.
Widening more and more on the side of the open sea, Humboldt's Current ends by abandoning the coast-line, and, bending toward the west, to
mix its waters with those of the equatorial current tending from east to
west across the Pacific. This liquid moving mass is undoubtedly the
most powerful oceanic river of our planet. According to Duperrey, it
has a mean width of no less than 3500 miles, from the twenty-sixth degree of south latitude to the twenty-fourth degree of north latitude, and
on its immense journey in a straight line round the world, it traverses
from 130 to 140 degrees of longitude—that is to say, more than a third
of the circumference of the globe. Its average speed is, like that of Humboldt's Current, about 19 miles per day; but in certain places, according
to the seasons, an advance twice as rapid has been ascertained. What
the quantity of this enormous mass of water can be that is thus displaced
from one end of the sea to the other, is unknown; for it would be first
necessary to know the mean depth of the current, but this the sounding-
lead has not yet discovered. It is only known that at the point where
the water from the pole turns toward the west to enter the great equatorial stream, it proceeds " en masse " in one direction, with a depth of
not less than a mile.
In the midst of the innumerable islands which are scattered over the Pacific, the general regularity of the great current is frequently disturbed, at
least on the surface, in consequence of evaporation, rains, and even by the
incessant labors of the coral-building zoophytes, which in various ways
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000095 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 84 THE OCEAN. first recognized its existence. It carries with it large icebergs, often laden with stones and fragments^that have fallen from the Antarctic mountains, and by the coldness of its waters produces a remarkable lowering of the temperature in all the countries whose shores it bathes. This liquid mass, which has a depth of no less than 670 fathoms on the coast of Chili, gives to the vegetation of the country a remarkable analogy with that of St. Helena, which at a distance of 4000 miles is washed by another branch of the Antarctic current. Humboldt and Duperrey state, that off the coasts of Callao and Guayaquil—that is to say, in one of the driest climates and most exposed to the rays of the sun—the current is on an average at from 59° to 60° Fahr., while the adjacent seas are about 20° warmer. Not a branch of coral can take root on the rocks and shores washed by this current of cold water: the polar current changes every thing on its passage—the flora, fauna, climate, and even the history of mankind. If the air was not constantly refreshed by the contact of cold water coming from the pole, Peru, which is so rarely watered by rain, would be transformed into another Desert of Sahara, and human life would become almost impossible there. By this current, too, the distances are notably diminished, and Valparaiso, Coquimbo, Arica, Callao, are, in reality, less distant from Europe than they appear on the map; for after having rounded Cape Horn, the ships sailing along the western coasts of South America are carried about fifteen to twenty miles a day by this current. Widening more and more on the side of the open sea, Humboldt's Current ends by abandoning the coast-line, and, bending toward the west, to mix its waters with those of the equatorial current tending from east to west across the Pacific. This liquid moving mass is undoubtedly the most powerful oceanic river of our planet. According to Duperrey, it has a mean width of no less than 3500 miles, from the twenty-sixth degree of south latitude to the twenty-fourth degree of north latitude, and on its immense journey in a straight line round the world, it traverses from 130 to 140 degrees of longitude—that is to say, more than a third of the circumference of the globe. Its average speed is, like that of Humboldt's Current, about 19 miles per day; but in certain places, according to the seasons, an advance twice as rapid has been ascertained. What the quantity of this enormous mass of water can be that is thus displaced from one end of the sea to the other, is unknown; for it would be first necessary to know the mean depth of the current, but this the sounding- lead has not yet discovered. It is only known that at the point where the water from the pole turns toward the west to enter the great equatorial stream, it proceeds " en masse " in one direction, with a depth of not less than a mile. In the midst of the innumerable islands which are scattered over the Pacific, the general regularity of the great current is frequently disturbed, at least on the surface, in consequence of evaporation, rains, and even by the incessant labors of the coral-building zoophytes, which in various ways |
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