Abstract
DR. C. W. GUMBEL has recently published an important paper, containing an account of some highly interesting investigations on Deep-sea Mud. Sir R. Murchison and Professor Huxley provided him with a large quantity of mud, taken up from the Atlantic at lat. 29° 36′ 54″ N., and long. 18° 19′ 48″ W., at a depth of about 2,350 fathoms. This he first cleared, by long-continued washing, from all sea-salts soluble in water; then he divided it, by filtering, into three parts. In the first Foraminifera and larger organisms predominated; the second consisted of a sediment easily distinguished from the first, fine but heavy; the third was fine and flaky, remaining lightly suspended in water, and consisting almost exclusively of Bathybius, Coccoliths, Coccospheres, together with other organisms of the smallest kind (Diatoms, Radiolaria, Sponge-spicules, and a very few of the smallest Foraminifera). “Dried to about 100° C.” says Dr. Gümbel, “10 per cent, of the mud consisted of large Foraminifera; 1.3 per cent, of fine, heavy mud; and 88.7 per cent, of finest Bathybius mud. The 10 per cent, part consisted mostly of Globigerina, which occurred in an astonishing variety of forms, from the smallest shapes to figures of a considerable size, and could easily be distinguished as Gl. bulloides and Gl. inflata. Next to these in number were Orbulina universa, Cristellaria crepidula, Truncatulina lobatula, Discorbina rosacea, Rotalia soldanii, R. orbicularis, Pulvinulina elegans; P. micheliana, Nonionina umbilicata, Polystomella crispa, Lituola globigeriniiformis, with many other (but more dismembered) species. Along with these there were individual specimens of large Radiolaria, Siliceous Sponge-spicules, Diatoms, shells of Ostracoda, torn pieces of sponge and (very rarely) of Echinodermata, and fragments of wood, which were very decidedly distinguishable. It is a question whether the latter was a part of the apparatus used in raising the mud. It is in the highest degree remarkable that all traces of Bryozoa, corals, and firm pieces of more highly-organised animals, were wanting, or at least were very rare.
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Dr. C. W. Gümbel on Deep-Sea Mud . Nature 3, 16–17 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/003016a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/003016a0
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