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414 LIFE. is much narrower, and rendered very irregular by the variations of climate which toward the north are produced by winds, maritime currents, and the different conditions of the opposite continental coasts. This northern " circumcentral" zone takes its rise in the Atlantic, on the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas; then, spreading out toward the east, it washes the coasts of Morocco and of the Iberian peninsula. Beyond the Straits of Gibraltar it embraces the Mediterranean, where there are fisheries for the tunny, sponge, and coral. In this sea the species show a gradual diminution from west to east, and in the inclosed basins in the interior of the continent, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Sea of Aral, they are even much less numerous. In the Pacific, this same zone, the limits of which are however scarcely known, stretches from the coasts of the Corea and Japan toward those of California. The third zone, which is situated about the middle of the temperate latitudes, has received the name (not, however, a very appropriate one) of the neutral northern zone. Like the last-mentioned zone, it curves round and spreads out across the Atlantic from the coasts of America to those of Europe. It is narrow along the shores of Virginia and Delaware, but it widens out toward the north-east with the Gulf Stream, and embraces all the Celtic seas of the peninsula of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, and the Shetland Isles. The Baltic Sea and its gulfs are mere dependents on this zone. The great herring fisheries are carried on in this homoiozoic zone. The most northerly zone which is characterized by fisheries for cod and other fish of a similar nature, likewise follows the immense curve of the Gulf Stream, and stretches from east to west. Beginning at Cape Cod, in the Bay of Fundy, it embraces Iceland and the adjacent seas, and washes the coasts of Norway and Lapland up to North Cape. In the Pacific, this zone, known as the northern circumpolar zone, assumes, like the neutral zone, a circular tendency, owing to the great current of Japan and the south-west winds, which in this part of the ocean bring about a circuitous movement similar to that of the Gulf Stream. Lastly, the Arctic Seas are occupied by the polar homoiozoic zone, the extent of which comprises the whole of the spherical cap from the pole to Labrador, the Gulf of Obi, Behring Straits, and Kamtschatka. In this region, the inhabitants of the sea, generally speaking, are of rather dull colors, and the species are much less numerous than in the southern zones; but, on the other hand, these species are for the most part represented by a great number of individuals. In the southern hemisphere, the homoiozoic zones follow one another in the same order as in the opposite hemisphere, and exhibit similar transitions between the respective typical species; but, it must be confessed, the comparative extent of these various zones is very imperfectly ascertained. All we positively know is, that to the west of South America the domain of each of the marine faunas curves round toward the north, carried away, so to speak, by "Humboldt's Current," which runs along the
Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
Publisher | Harper |
Place of Publication | New York |
Date | 1873 |
Language | eng |
Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Title | 00000457 |
Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Transcript | 414 LIFE. is much narrower, and rendered very irregular by the variations of climate which toward the north are produced by winds, maritime currents, and the different conditions of the opposite continental coasts. This northern " circumcentral" zone takes its rise in the Atlantic, on the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas; then, spreading out toward the east, it washes the coasts of Morocco and of the Iberian peninsula. Beyond the Straits of Gibraltar it embraces the Mediterranean, where there are fisheries for the tunny, sponge, and coral. In this sea the species show a gradual diminution from west to east, and in the inclosed basins in the interior of the continent, the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Sea of Aral, they are even much less numerous. In the Pacific, this same zone, the limits of which are however scarcely known, stretches from the coasts of the Corea and Japan toward those of California. The third zone, which is situated about the middle of the temperate latitudes, has received the name (not, however, a very appropriate one) of the neutral northern zone. Like the last-mentioned zone, it curves round and spreads out across the Atlantic from the coasts of America to those of Europe. It is narrow along the shores of Virginia and Delaware, but it widens out toward the north-east with the Gulf Stream, and embraces all the Celtic seas of the peninsula of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, and the Shetland Isles. The Baltic Sea and its gulfs are mere dependents on this zone. The great herring fisheries are carried on in this homoiozoic zone. The most northerly zone which is characterized by fisheries for cod and other fish of a similar nature, likewise follows the immense curve of the Gulf Stream, and stretches from east to west. Beginning at Cape Cod, in the Bay of Fundy, it embraces Iceland and the adjacent seas, and washes the coasts of Norway and Lapland up to North Cape. In the Pacific, this zone, known as the northern circumpolar zone, assumes, like the neutral zone, a circular tendency, owing to the great current of Japan and the south-west winds, which in this part of the ocean bring about a circuitous movement similar to that of the Gulf Stream. Lastly, the Arctic Seas are occupied by the polar homoiozoic zone, the extent of which comprises the whole of the spherical cap from the pole to Labrador, the Gulf of Obi, Behring Straits, and Kamtschatka. In this region, the inhabitants of the sea, generally speaking, are of rather dull colors, and the species are much less numerous than in the southern zones; but, on the other hand, these species are for the most part represented by a great number of individuals. In the southern hemisphere, the homoiozoic zones follow one another in the same order as in the opposite hemisphere, and exhibit similar transitions between the respective typical species; but, it must be confessed, the comparative extent of these various zones is very imperfectly ascertained. All we positively know is, that to the west of South America the domain of each of the marine faunas curves round toward the north, carried away, so to speak, by "Humboldt's Current," which runs along the |
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