Jasper County Democrat, Volume 14, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 March 1912 — POETS HAVE HAD WRONG IDEA [ARTICLE]

POETS HAVE HAD WRONG IDEA

Their Rhapsodies About the “Deep, Blue Sea” Shown to Have No Foundation in Fact.’- ‘ The poet sings of the “deep, blue sea," but the sea is not always blue by any means. There are any number of colors to be observed tn the oceans, and many interesting facts have been gathered with respect to them. The Mediterranean and Carrlbean seas present the true blue color. The extraordinary blueness of the first named has been assigned to two causes. One is that very few large rivers of fresh water enter IL The other Is that the Mediterranean, practically landlocked and exposed to powerful sunlight, has the greatest evaporation of all seas. By actual test, it has been ascertained that the Mediterranean water is heavier and saltier than the water of the Atlantic ocean, which is an important circumstance in the consideration of the 1 cause of its color. “ ’ Aside from blue and green, other colors are to be seen in the world’s seas and oceans. In January, 1909. a river of yellow water, three miles wide and of enormous length was observed running parallel with the gulf stream. It stretched from Cape Florida to Cape Hatteras and was undoubtedly caused by some submarine upheaval, probably of a volcanic nature. It endured for some weeks. j In 1901, off the California coast, the sea turned almost black. The whole of Santa Cruz bay assumed this extraordinary inky hue, and fishing came to an end. In this case no definite reason was ascertained for the phenomenon. , The dull reddish tint that js seen in the Red sea, and which has given that body of water its name, is said to be due to the presence of millions upon millions of microscopic algae. The Yellow sea of China is supposed to owe its color to the floods of muddy water that the great river pours into it, but many scientists are of opinion that the color is to be ascribed to the living organisms that flourish in the waters. , Generally speaking, the blueness of sea water is in constant ratio to its saltiness. In the tropics the tremendous evaporation induced by the blazing sun causes the water to be much more salt than it is in iftore northern lattltudes For about thirty degrees both north and south of the equator the waters are of an exquisite azure. Beyond these latitudes the blue fades abd the color becomes green