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basin is remarkable in Europe for. its volcanic and seismic activity. Submarine earthquakes are in some parts sufficiently frequent and violent as seriously to interfere with the working of See also:

TELEGRAPH (Gr. Tike, far, and rypaq5eiv, to write)

telegraph cables. Suess divides the Mediterranean basin into four See also:

PHYSICAL

physical regions, which afford probably the best means of description : (I) The western Mediterranean, from See also:

GIBRALTAR

Gibraltar to See also:

Malta and See also:

SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

Sicily, enclosed by the See also:

APENNINES (Gr. 'A1T- vvLvos, Lat. Appenninus—in both cases used in the singular)

Apennines, the mountains of See also:

NORTHERN

northern See also:

Africa, and of southern and See also:

south-eastern See also:

Spain (Cordillere betfque). (2) The Adriatic, occupying the space between the Apennines and the Dinaric See also:

GROUP

group (Suess compares the Adriatic to the valley of the See also:

BRAHMAPUTRA

Brahmaputra). (3) A See also:

PART

part surrounded by the fragments of the Dinaro-See also:

TAURUS (" the Bull ")

Taurus See also:

arch, especially by See also:

CRETE (Gr. Kp;rrrr; Turk. Kirid, Ital. Candia)

Crete and See also:

Cyprus. This includes the See also:

AEGEAN

Aegean and the Black Sea, and its margin skirts the south See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of Asia Minor. These three parts belong strictly to Eurasia.

(4) Part of the coastal region of Indo-Africa, terraced downwards in successive See also:

HORIZONTAL

horizontal planes from the Shot, reaching the sea in the Little Syrte, and continuing to the southern depressions of See also:

SYRIA

Syria. Malta and See also:

GOZO (Gozzo)

Gozo are the only islands of the Mediterranean which can be associated with this See also:

section, and, per contra, the See also:

mountain See also:

CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain of north-west Africa belongs to Eurasia. See also:

Murray (1888) estimates the See also:

TOTAL

total area of the Mediterranean at 813,000 sq. m. Karstens (1894) breaks it up into parts as follows: Western Mediterranean 841,593 sq. See also:

KIN (0. E. cyn, a word represented in nearly all Teutonic languages, cf. Du. kunne, Dan. and Swed. kon, Goth kuni, tribe; the Teutonic base is kunya; the equivalent Aryan root gan- to beget, produce, is seen in Gr. 'yEvos, Lat. genus, cf. "kind")

kin. Sicilian-Ionian basin 767,658 „ See also:

GREECE

Greece and See also:

LEVANT

Levant basin 769,652 Adriatic Sea 130,656 Total . 2,509,559 ,, A more See also:

RECENT

recent calculation by Krummel gives the total area as 2,967,570 sq. km. or 1,145,830 sq. m. (See OCEAN.) Murray estimates the total See also:

SURFACE

surface of the Mediterranean drainage area,' with which must be included the Black Sea, at 2,934,500 sq. m., of which 1,420,800 are See also:

EURASIAN

Eurasian and 1,513,800 are See also:

AFRICAN

African. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

rivers entering the Mediterranean directly are the See also:

Nile from Africa, and the Po, See also:

Rhone and See also:

EBRO (anc. Iberus or Hiberus)

Ebro from Europe. The physical divisions of the Mediterranean given above hold See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good in describing the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of the sea-See also:

bed. The western Mediterranean is cut off by a See also:

BANK

bank See also:

CROSSING

crossing the narrow strait between Sicily and Cape Bon, usually known as the See also:

ADVENTURE (from Lat. res adventura, a thing about to happen)

Adventure Bank, on which the See also:

DEPTH

depth is nowhere 200 fathoms. The mean depth of the western basin is estimated at 881 fathoms, and the deepest See also:

SOUNDING (for derivation see SOUND above)

sounding recorded is 2040 fathoms. In the eastern Mediterranean the mean depth is nearly the same as in the western basin.

The Sicilian-Ionian basin has a mean depth of 885 fathoms, and the Levant basin, 793 fathoms. Deep See also:

WATER

water is found See also:

close up to the coast of Sicily, Greece, Crete and the edge of the African plateau. The steepest slope observed occurs off the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island of Sapienza, near See also:

NAVARINO, BATTLE OF

Navarino, where 1720 fathoms has been obtained only *_o See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles from See also:

LAND

land. In 1897 the See also:

SHIP

ship " See also:

Washington " obtained depths of 2220 fathoms in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the eastern Mediterranean; and the See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian expeditions in the " See also:

POLA (Gr. Hart or Haas; Slovene, Pulj)

Pola " discovered in the " Pola Deep " (35° 44' N., 21° 45' E.), south-west of Cape Matapan, a maximum depth of 2046 fathoms. Between these two deep areas a See also:

ridge runs in a north-See also:

WESTERLY

westerly direction 550 fathoms from the surface—possibly a See also:

PROJECTION

projection from the African plateau. Another bank 1too fathoms from the surface runs south from the See also:

east end of Crete,. separating the See also:

Pole, Deep from the depths of the Levant basin, in which a depth of 196o fathoms was recorded near Makri on the coast of Asia Minor. The later expedition of the "Pola" discovered the " See also:

Rhodes Deep " (36° 5' N., 28° 36' E.), with a maximum depth of 2110 fathoms: this deep is closed to the south-east by a ridge See also:

RUNNING

running south-east, over which the depth is 1050 fathoms. Off the coast of Syria the " Pola " obtained four soundings of more than 'too fathoms, and between Cyprus and the coast of Asia Minor only two over 550 fathoms. Murray gives the following figures for the areas and volumes of the Mediterranean at different depths:which. gives a mean depth over all of 768 fathoms. The following table is due to See also:

KARSTEN, KARL JOHANN BERNHARD (1782-1853)

Karsten: Depth. Area. See also:

VOLUME

Volume.

Fathoms. Sq. Miles. Cub. Miles. o- 100 201,300 80,950 100- 500 251,65o 220,850 500-1000 81,300 189,200 1000-2000 263,250 217,050 Over 2000 15,500 1,750 813,000 709,800 Volume. Mean Depth. Cub. Km. Fathoms. Western Mediterranean 1,356,512 881 Sicilian-Ionian basin 1,242,549 885 Levant 1,116,599 793 Adriatic Sea 31,844 133 Krummel gives the total volume of the basin as 4,249,020 cubic kilometres or 1,019,400 cubic See also:

STATUTE

statute miles, and the mean depth as 782 fathoms. (See OCEAN.) See also:

METEOROLOGY (Gr. JerEwpa, and hb'yos, i.e. the science of things in the air)

Meteorology.—As already stated, the " Mediterranean region " forms a distinct See also:

CLIMATIC

climatic unit, chiefly due to the form and position of the Mediterranean Sea.

The prevailing winds in this region, which the sea traverses longitudinally, are westerly, but the sea itself causes the formation of bands of See also:

low barometric pressure during the See also:

winter See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season, within which cyclonic disturbances frequently develop, while in summer the region comes under the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of the polar margin of the tropical high pressure See also:

belt. Hence the Mediterranean region is characteristically one of winter rains, the distinctive feature becoming less sharply defined from south to north, and the amount of total See also:

ANNUAL

annual fall increasing in the same direction. The climate becomes more See also:

CONTINENTAL

continental in type from west to east, but there are great See also:

LOCAL

local irregularities—the elevated plateaus of See also:

Algeria and Spain cause a rise of pressure in winter and delay the See also:

RAINY, ROBERT (1826-1906)

rainy seasons: the rains set in earlier in the west than in the east, and the total fall is greater. Temperature varies greatly, the annual mean varying from 56° F. to 77° F. In the west the Atlantic influence limits the mean annual range to about Io°—12° F., but in the east this increases to 36° and even 40°. Autumn is warmer than See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring, especially in the coastal regions, and this is exaggerated in the eastern region by local land winds, which replace the cool sea-breezes of summer: overcoats are ordinarily worn in Spain and See also:

Italy till See also:

JULY

July, and are then put aside till See also:

OCTOBER

October. Local winds form an important feature in nearly all the coast climates of the Mediterranean, especially in winter, where they are primarily caused by the rapid See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change of temperature from the sea to the See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow-clad hinterlands. See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

Cold dry winds, often of great violence, occur in the Rhone valley (the See also:

Mistral), in See also:

ISTRIA (Ger. Istrien)

Istria, and See also:

DALMATIA (Ger. Dalmatien; Ital. Dalmazia; Serbo-Croatian, Dalmacija)

Dalmatia (the See also:

BORA

Bora), and in the western See also:

CAUCASUS

Caucasus. In summer a north-west " See also:

trade " See also:

wind, the See also:

MAESTRO

Maestro, occurs in the Adriatic. The See also:

SIROCCO

Sirocco is a cyclonic wind characteristic of the winter rainy season; in the Adriatic it is usually accompanied by See also:

CLOUD (from the same root, if not the same word, as " clod," a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages for a mass or lump; it is first applied in the usual sense in the late 13th century; the Anglo-Saxon chid is only used in the sense of " a ma

cloud and moisture, often by See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain. In Sicily and southern Italy the Sirocco occurs at all seasons; it is a dry, dusty 'wind from south-east or south-west. The dust is chiefly of local origin, but partly comes from the See also:

SAHARA

Sahara.

Similar winds are met with in Spain (the See also:

LEVECHE

Leveche), but they reach their greatest development in the Simooms of Algeria and Syria, and the See also:

KHAMSIN (Arabic for " fifty ")

Khamsin of See also:

EGYPT

Egypt. Temperature.—The mean surface temperature of the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Mediterranean falls from south-east, where it is over 70° F., to north-west, the See also:

AVERAGE

average at the coast of the Gulf of See also:

Lyons being. 6o,°. The isothermal of 65° runs from Gibraltar to the north of See also:

SARDINIA (Gr. 'IXs'o"uva, from a fancied resemblance to a footprint in its shape, Ital. Sardegna)

Sardinia, and thence by the Strait of See also:

MESSINA

Messina to the Gulf of See also:

Corinth. A similar See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution is found too fathoms from the surface, temperature falling from 6o° in the Levant to 55° east of Gibraltar. At 200 fathoms temperature falls in the same way from 58° to S5°, but below 250 fathoms temperatures are practically See also:

UNIFORM

uniform to the bottom, 55.5° in the western basin and 56.5° in the eastern. The bottom temperature observed in the Pola Deep was 56.3°. Salinity.—In the extreme west the salinity of the. surface water is about 36.3 per mille, and it increases eastwards to 37.6 east of Sardinia and 39.0 and upwards in the Levant. Observations of salinity in the depths of the western Mediterranean are very deficient, but the average is probably between 38•o and 38.5. In the eastern basin the " Pola " expedition observed salinities of 38.7 to 39•o to the east of a line joining Cape Matapan with See also:

Alexandria, and 38.2 to 38.7 to the west of it. The See also:

SALTER, JOHN WILLIAM (1820-1869)

salter waters apparently tend to make their way westwards close to the African coast, and at the bottom the highest salinities have been observed south of Crete. Evnitzki states that the saltest water of the whole basin occurs in the Aegean Sea.

Circulation.—There is little definite circulation of water with1fi the Mediterranean itself. In the straits joining it with the Atlanti e and the Black Sea the fresher surface waters of these seas flow inwards to assist in making good the loss by evaporation at the surface of the Mediterranean, and in both cases dense water makes its way outwards along the bottom of the channels, the outflowing currents being less in volume and delivery than the inflowing. Elsewhere local surface currents are See also:

DEVELOPED

developed, either drifts due to the See also:

DIRECT

direct See also:

ACTION

action of the winds, or streams produced by wind action heaping water up against the land; but these nowhere rise to the dignity of a distinct current See also:

SYSTEM

system, although they are often sufficient to obliterate the feeble tidal action characteristic of the Mediterranean. Dr Natterer, the chemist of the " Pola expeditions, has expressed the See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion that the poverty of the pelagic See also:

FAUNA

fauna is solely due to the want of circulation in the depths. Deposits.—A great part of the bottom of the Mediterranean is covered with See also:

BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue muds, frequently with a yellow upper layer containing a considerable proportion of carbonate of See also:

lime, chiefly shells of pelagic See also:

FORAMINIFERA

Foraminifera. In many parts, particularly in the eastern basin, a calcareous or siliceous crust, from half an See also:

INCH (O. Eng. ynce from Lat. uncia, a twelfthpart; cf. " ounce," and see As)

inch to three inches in thickness, is met with ; and Natterer suggested that the formation of this crust may be due to the See also:

PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of carbonate of ammonium where deposits containing organic See also:

MATTER

matter are undergoing oxidation, and the consequent precipitation of carbonate of lime and other substances from the waters nearer the surface. This view, however, has not met with See also:

general See also:

ACCEPTANCE (Lat. acceptare, frequentative form of accipere, to receive)

acceptance. (H. N.

End of Article: MEDITERRANEAN SEA

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