The Coming Ice AgeTaber, C. A. M. (Charles Austin Mendell)
Science
The Coming Ice Age
Taber, C. A. M. (Charles Austin Mendell)
Glacial epoch
Yet during such frigid times the sources of the equatorial stream would
be greatly chilled by its two great feeders, the Humboldt current and
the returning Japanese current, both of which flow down from the high
latitudes and meet in the equatorial latitudes on the eastern side of
the Pacific, thus cooling the source of the great equatorial current.
But this latter stream, while on its long western passage across
the Pacific and Indian Oceans, beneath a torrid sun, with only
one cold feeder from the south which approaches it along the west
side of Australia, would, on its long tropical journey, be able to
obtain considerable warmth, even during an ice period, to supply the
Mozambique and Agulhas streams, and so greatly assist the Atlantic
waters in bringing about a mild period. Still, the process of subduing
the cold of the southern latitudes would be slow, even with the Cape
Horn channel closed, because of the vast collection of ice burdening
the sea and land.
Yet there were conditions that were naturally brought about to favor
the process of returning warmth; for it appears that, when the southern
ocean was made shallow because of a considerable portion of its waters
having been moved into the northern hemisphere, it will be seen that
the conditions were more favorable for the westerly winds to create
drift currents than would be the case on deeper seas. Therefore,
the high and low sea-levels caused by such winds would be greater
on a shallow ocean than would occur on deeper waters. Thus the low
sea-levels of the shallow southern sea would have strong attraction
for tropical surface waters, and so increase the thickness of its warm
drift currents, and at the same time its lessened depths would have
less capacity for the storage of cold water to reduce the temperature
of the under-waters of the tropical zone.
And, furthermore, when the southern ocean was shallow, New Zealand
acquired a longer extension of land to the north and south.
Consequently, the enlarged low sea-level on its eastern side attracted
more tropical water into the southern latitudes than now.
So, according to the conditions I have pointed out, the ice-sheets
would at length melt away, and a long period of mildness would succeed
on account of the length of time it would require after the ice
disappeared from the earth for the prevailing winds to move the surface
waters of the augmented northern seas into the southern ocean, and
again restore its independent circulation, and so, after a considerable
lapse of time, bring about the geographical and climatic conditions
existing at the present date, which can be seen on map No. 2, which
shows that a cold period has already made considerable advance in the
southern hemisphere, the southern continent and islands being covered
with glaciers, and the prevalence of icebergs as far north as the
latitude of 35° south.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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