Africa and its inhabitants . more than the fraction of a degree being observedin a layer several hundred fathoms thick. The result of two hundred and twelvesoundings taken by the Talimnan shows for depths of 500 fathoms a temperature ofrather loss than 50° F., or 27 degrees less than that of the surface waters; at1,000 fathoms it oscillates round 39° F., at 2,000 fathoms it falls to 37°, at thebottom approaching 32°, which, however, for salt water is not the freezing the region lying between the Azores and the Cape Verd group, the tempera-ture on the bed of the ocean remains at 34 F.
Africa and its inhabitants . more than the fraction of a degree being observedin a layer several hundred fathoms thick. The result of two hundred and twelvesoundings taken by the Talimnan shows for depths of 500 fathoms a temperature ofrather loss than 50° F., or 27 degrees less than that of the surface waters; at1,000 fathoms it oscillates round 39° F., at 2,000 fathoms it falls to 37°, at thebottom approaching 32°, which, however, for salt water is not the freezing the region lying between the Azores and the Cape Verd group, the tempera-ture on the bed of the ocean remains at 34 F. In the Bay of Biscay it is some-what lower, and lower still towards the west, near the Antilles and Bermudas, andespecially imdcr the equator, wher^ the lowest in the Atlantic basin (32°5 F.)has been recorded. Thus by a remarkable contrast the waters of the Azorian are found to be warmerthan those of the equatorial Atlantic. In both regions the mean difference in cor- Fig. 3.—Fall of the Tempekattre in Deep ?\\ •JjoLU ; j,:»uo Fall of the temperature west of the Azores.• ,1 „ „ north of the equator near St. Pauls Island. 13,200 feet responding liquid volumes of 1,600 fathoms is about 3° 5 in favour of the northernsection as far as 40 N. lat. This phenomenon, which seems opposed to the physicallaws of the globe, must be attributed to the influence of the oceanic the region lying between the Antilles, the Canaries, and Cape Verd groupis comparatively tranquil, and subject to the broiling heat of the sim, the equatorialwaters are to a great extent constantly renewed on the surface by currents from theNorth Atlantic, which skirt the African seaboard along its whole length from northto south. At lower depths cold waters set steadily from the Antarctic regions alongthe bed of the West Atlantic to the north-cast of the Antilles. According to theobservations of the Challenger and Gazelle, these deep Antarctic currents meet inthe zone to the so
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