THE DEEP AND THE PAST

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This plunge into deep-sea geochronology (or historical geology) has accounted for some important new findings on much earlier eras and man's evolutionary development. It was taken by the two author scientists of the Lamont Geological Observatory: the object of their investigations was ""find an unbroken record of the climate and biological changes that occurred during the Pleistocene"" age. In the process of this investigation, they have toured and tested the seven seas on the Observatory's ships, the Vema and Conrad. Their explorations were accomplished by sending down coring devices into the ocean bottom (in 1948 the Ewing corer provided greater access) and by retrieving core samples of the eons of shells, rock and effluvium. These deposits and formations record in-their layers the effects of the three glacial ages, during the last of which man is presumed to have appeared. Difficulties in dating the ages are increased by the action of the third glacier in scrambling the records left by the two previous ones, and by the fact that the sea bottom is liable to landslides of slumping sediment which mix the old with the new. Nevertheless, the author have made the world's largest collection of core samples (over 3000) and they believe over the Pleistocene period (most recent to the present) lasted upward of 1,500,000 years, far longer than was formerly thought. For those who enjoy the pursuit of the scientific, this is a quite, unassuming, engrossing account of scientists at work. It is questionable whether this audience can be extended to include the uninitiated reader.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION