Discovery of Deep Sea Life - Written by Angela N.
In 1843, Professor Edward Forbes stated that life can't exist below 300 fathoms, (1800 feet) in the deep sea. This statement started a 20 year debate on whether life existed in the azoic zone. With very little information about the ocean, and only a few oceanic discoveries made in the past, people tended to believe this theory. However as the years progressed on, people began to question Forbes' theory. It began in 1853, Louis F. de Pourtales of the U.S Coast Survey examined Coast sounding operations that found evidence of life in depths over 1000 fathoms (6000 feet).
Many years later, Forbes' statement was proven wrong. In 1868, a Scottish naturalist Charles Wyville Thomson explores the ocean floor from the HMS Lightning and Porcupine and discovers life appearing in 2,400 fathoms (14,400 feet) deep underwater. This evidence finally proves that Edward Forbes' theory was incorrect.
|
Sources
http://www.seasky.org/ocean-exploration/ocean-timeline-1801-1900.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wyville_Thomson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Forbes
http://www.seasky.org/ocean-exploration/ocean-timeline-1801-1900.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wyville_Thomson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Forbes