Excerpt from The Journal of Geology: July August, 1898From the greater depths to which the ocean bottoms have sunk, the presumption follows that in every great crustal read justment the major factor consisted of the descent of the ocean bottom or some part of it. Logically, as here stated, this is only a presumption which might be set aside by the assumption of a single or a few great depressions, while the other move ments might be upward or indifferent, but this will appear less tenable in the light of further considerations.Not only has there been increase in depth, but increase in capacity also. From a capacity essentially zero at the outset the basins have developed a capacity sufficient to hold nearly all the water of the globe. In the aggregate, therefore, the capaci ties of the ocean basins, as well as their depths, have been increased by crustal readjustment, and the presumption is that this has usually been the case in individual readjustments, although this does not rigorously follow. It will be sustained, however, by further considerations. The crustal readjustments here referred to are those resulting from internal causes. Exter nal readjustments work to precisely opposite ends, the degrada tion of the land and the filling of the basins. This opposing action strengthens the presumption that the internal causes have habitually increased the capacity of the basins, for they have grown more and more capacious in spite of this constantly opposing action. This constant filling in affords a presumption of frequently repeated increases of capacity, otherwise the land should have disappeared.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.