ATLANTIC.--Rejecting some of the earliest soundings as untrustworthy,
the greatest known depth in the North Atlantic is to the north of the
island of Puerto Rico, in about latitude 19° 39' N., longitude 66° 26'
W., found by the C. S. S. Blake, Lieut. Commander Brownson, U. S. N.,
in 1882-83, 4,561 fathoms.
The deepest known spot in the South Atlantic is 3,284 fathoms, in about
latitude 19° 55' S., longitude 24° 50' W., sounded by the U. S. S.
Essex, Commander Schley, in 1878.
The general run of the soundings indicates that greater depressions
exist nearer the western than in the eastern or middle part of the
Atlantic, North and South.
PACIFIC.--In the North Pacific the greatest depression has been found
by the U. S. S. Tuscarora, Commander Geo. E. Belknap, U. S. N., in
1874, 4,655 fathoms, in latitude 44° 55' N., longitude 152° 26' E. The
next deepest sounding in the North Pacific was located by the
Challenger in 1875, 4,475 fathoms, in latitude 11° 24' N., longitude
143° 16' E. As in the Atlantic, the greater depths appear to exist in
the western part and particularly off the coasts of Japan.
In the South Pacific the greatest depths were supposed, up to a recent
period, to be in the eastern part. Within the last two years, however,
the British surveying vessel Egeria has discovered greater depressions
in the western part of the South Pacific, one spot sounding 4,430
fathoms in latitude 24° 37' S., longitude 175° 08' W., and another, 12
miles farther south, 4,298 fathoms.
INDIAN OCEAN.--In this ocean the greatest depths appear to exist to the
north and west of the Australian continent, where there are more than
3,000 fathoms in a number of widely separated spots, indicating a
depressed area of considerable extent.
In the most southerly part of the Indian Ocean, or rather in the
_Antarctic region_, the Challenger obtained, in 1874, a maximum depth
of 1,673 fathoms, in latitude 65° 42' S., longitude 79° 49' E.
ARCTIC OCEAN.--The greatest depth was sounded by the Sofia in 1868,
2,650 fathoms, in latitude 78° 05' N., longitude 2° 30' W.
In the minor seas the maximum depths so far as ascertained are:
Caribbean Sea 3,452 fms., south of Great Cayman.
Gulf of Mexico 2,119 " (Sigsbee Deep).
Mediterranean 2,170 "
North Sea 375 "
Baltic 178 "
China Sea 2,100 "
Coral Sea 2,650 "
Sulu Sea 2,550 "
Celebes Sea 2,600 "
Banda Sea 2,800 "
January, 1889.