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Baluchistan, the Himalayas, the Tian-shan, and, although they are very different in direction, the Burmese ranges. The Kuen-lun, Nan-shan and the mountain ranges of See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

CHINA

China are, perhaps, of earlier date, but nevertheless they lie in the same belt. It is not true that throughout the whole width of this See also:

ZONE (Gr. 'WV77, a girdle, from 'wvvLvay to gird)

zone the beds are folded. There are considerable tracts which are but little disturbed, but these tracts are enclosed within the arcs formed by the folds, and the zone taken as a whole is distinctly one of crumpling. North of the folded belt, and includingthe greater See also:

PART

part of See also:

SIBERIA

Siberia, See also:

MONGOLIA

Mongolia and See also:

NORTHERN

northern China, lies another See also:

AREA

area which is, in See also:

general, See also:

FREE

free from any important folding of Mesozoic or Tertiary See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age.

There are, it is true, mountain ranges which are formed of folded beds; but in many cases the direction of the chains is different from that of the folds, so that the ranges must owe their See also:

ELEVATION

elevation to other causes; and the folds, moreover, are of See also:

ancient date, for the most part Archaean or Palaeozoic. The configuration of the region is largely due to faulting, trough-like or See also:

TRAY

tray-like depressions being formed, and the intervening strips, which have not been depressed, See also:

STANDING

standing up as mountain ridges. Over a large part of Siberia and in the north of China, even the See also:

CAMBRIAN

Cambrian beds still lie as horizontally as they were first laid down. In the extreme north, in the Verkhoyansk range and in the mountains of the Taimyr peninsula, there are indications of another zone of folding of Mesozoic or later date, but our information concerning these ranges is very scanty. Besides the three See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief regions into which the mainland is thus seen to be divided, See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention should be See also:

DRAWN

drawn to the festoons of islands which border the eastern See also:

side of the continent, and which are undoubtedly due to causes similar to those which produced the folds of the folded belt. Of all the See also:

ASIATIC

Asiatic ranges the Himalayan is, geologically, the best known; and the See also:

EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence which it affords shows clearly that the folds to which it owes its elevation were produced by an overthrust from the north. It is, indeed, as if the high See also:

LAND

land of central Asia had been pushed southward against and over the unyielding See also:

mass formed by the old rocks of the See also:

INDIAN

Indian peninsula, and in the See also:

PROCESS

process the edges of the over-See also:

RIDING

riding strata had been crumpled and folded. Overlooking all smaller details, we may consider Asia to consist of a northern mass and a southern mass, too rigid to crumple, but not too strong to fracture, and an intermediate belt of softer See also:

rock which was capable of folding. If then by the contraction of the See also:

earth's interior the See also:

OUTER

outer crust were forced to accommodate itself to a smaller See also:

NUCLEUS (Lat. for the kernal of a nut, nux, the stone of fruit)

nucleus, the central softer belt would yield by crumpling; the more rigid masses to the north and south, if they gave way at all, would yield by faulting. It is interesting to observe, as will be shown later, that during the Mesozoic era there was a land-mass in the north of Asia and another in the south, and between them See also:

lay the sea in which See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary marine sediments were deposited. The belt of folding does not precisely coincide with this central sea, but the See also:

correspondence is fairly See also:

close. The See also:

PRESENT

present outline of the eastern See also:

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

coast and the nearly enclosed seas which lie between the islands and the mainland, are attributed by See also:

RICHTHOFEN, FERDINAND, BARON VON (1833-1905)

Richthofen chiefly to See also:

SIMPLE

simple faulting.

Little is known of the See also:

early geological See also:

HISTORY

history of Asia beyond the fact that a large part of the continent was covered by the sea during the Cambrian and Ordovician periods. But there is See also:

POSITIVE (or PORTABLE) ORGAN

positive evidence that much of the north and east of Asia has been land since the Palaeozoic era, and it has been conclusively proved that the peninsula of India has never been beneath the sea since the Carboniferous See also:

period at least. Between these ancient land masses lies an area in which marine deposits of Mesozoic age are well See also:

DEVELOPED

developed and which was evidently beneath the sea during the greater part of the Mesozoic era. The northern land-mass has been named Angaraland by E. See also:

SUESS, EDUARD (1831– )

Suess; the southern, of which the Indian peninsula is but a fragment, is called Gondwanaland by See also:

NEUMAYR, MELCHIOR (1845-1890)

Neumayr, Suess and others; while the intervening sea is the central Mediterranean sea of Neumayr and the Tethys of Suess. The greater part of western Asia, including the See also:

basin of the Obi, the drainage area of the See also:

ARAL

Aral Sea, together with Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Persia and Arabia, was covered by the sea during the later stages of the Cretaceous period; but a considerable part of this region was probably dry land in See also:

JURASSIC

Jurassic times. The northern land-mass begins in the north with the area which lies between the See also:

YENISEI

Yenisei and the See also:

LENA

Lena. Here the folded Archean rocks are overlaid by Cambrian and Ordovician beds, which still lie for the most part See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat and undisturbed. Upon these See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest patches of See also:

FRESHWATER

freshwater deposits containing numerous remains of See also:

PLANTS

plants. They consist chiefly of See also:

SANDSTONE

sandstone and See also:

CONGLOMERATE (from the Lat. conglomerare, to form into a ball, glomus, glomeris; so also the general term " conglomeration " for a miscellaneous collection of things, gathered together in a mass)

conglomerate, but include workable seams of See also:

COAL

coal. Some of the deposits appear to be of See also:

PERMIAN

Permian age, but others are probably Jurassic; and they are all included under the general name of the Angara series. Excepting in the extreme north, where marine Jurassic and Cretaceous fossils have been found, there is no evidence that this part of Siberia has been beneath the sea since the early part of the Palaeozoic era.

Besides the plant beds extensive outflows of basic See also:

LAVA

lava rest directly upon the Cambrian and Ordovician strata. The date of these eruptions is still. uncertain, but they probably continued to a very See also:

RECENT

recent period. South and east of the Palaeozoic See also:

plateau is an extensive area consisting chiefly of Archean rocks, and including the greater part of Mongolia north of the Tian-shan. Here again there are no marine beds of Mesozoic of Tertiary age, while plant-bearing deposits belonging to the Angara series are known. Structurally, the folds of this region are of ancient date; but the area is crossed by a series of depressions formed by faults, and the intervening strips, which have not been depressed to the same extent, now stand up as mountain ranges. Farther south, in the See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese provinces of Shansi and Shensi, the geological See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession is similar in some respects to that of the Siberian Palaeozoic plateau, but the sequence is more See also:

COMPLETE

complete. There is again a See also:

FLOOR (from O. Eng. flor, a word common to many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch vloer, and Ger. Flur, a field, in the feminine, and a floor, masculine)

floor of folded Archean rocks overlaid by nearly See also:

HORIZONTAL

horizontal strata of Lower Palaeozoic age; but these are followed by marine beds belonging to the Carboniferous period. From the Upper Carboniferous onward, however, no marine deposits are known; and, as in Siberia, plant-bearing beds are met with. Southern China is very different in structure, consisting largely of folded mountain chains, but the geological succession is very similar, and excepting near the Tibetan and Burmese See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders, there are no marine deposits of Mesozoic or Tertiary age. Thus it appears that from the See also:

ARCTIC (Gr. "ApKroc, the Bear, the northern constellation of Ursa Major)

Arctic Ocean there stretches a broad area as far as the south of China, in which no marine deposits of later date than Carboniferous have yet been found, except in the extreme north. Freshwater and terrestrial deposits of Mesozoic age occur in many places, and the conclusion is irresistible that tie greater part of this area has been land since the close of the Palaeozoic era. The Triassic deposits of the Verkhoyansk Range show that this land did not extend to the See also:

BERING (BEHRING), VITUS (1680-1741)

Bering Sea; while the marine Mesozoic deposits of Japan on the east, the western Tian-shan on the west and See also:

TIBET, or THIBET

Tibet on the south give us some See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of its limits in other directions.

In the same way the entire See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of any marine fossils in the peninsula of India, excepting near its borders, and the presence of the terrestrial and freshwater deposits of the See also:

GONDWANA

Gondwana series, representing the whole of the geological See also:

scale from the See also:

TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top of the Carboniferous to the top of,the Jurassic, show that this region alsohas been land since the Carboniferous period. It was a portion of a See also:

GREAT

great land-mass which probably extended across the Indian Ocean and was at one See also:

time See also:

UNITED

united with the south of See also:

Africa. But these two land-masses were not connected. Between India and China there is a broad belt in which marine deposits of Mesozoic and Tertiary age are well developed. Marine Tertiary beds occur in See also:

BURMA

Burma; in the Himalayas and in south Tibet there is a nearly complete series of marine deposits from the Carboniferous to the See also:

EOCENE (Gr. *In, dawn, icauvos, recent)

Eocene; in Afghanistan the Mesozoic beds are in part marine and in part fluviatile. The sea in which these strata were deposited seems to have attained its greatest See also:

EXTENSION (Lat. ex, out ; tendere, to stretch)

extension in Upper Cretaceous times, when its See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters spread over the whole of western Asia and even encroached slightly upon the Indian land. The Eocene sea, however, cannot have been much inferior in extent. It was after the Eocene period that the See also:

main part of the elevation of the Himalayas took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place, as is shown by the occurrence of nummulitic See also:

LIMESTONE

limestone at a height of 20,000 ft. The formation of this and of the other great mountain chains of central Asia resulted in the See also:

ISOLATION

isolation of portions of the former central sea; and the same forces finally led to the elevation of the whole region and the See also:

union of the old continents of Angara and Gondwana. Gondwanaland, however, did not See also:

long survive, and the portion which lay between India and South Africa sank beneath the waves in Tertiary times. Leaving out of See also:

CONSIDERATION (from Lat. considerare, to look at closely, examine, generally taken to be from con-, and the base seen in sidus, sideris, a star, the word being supposed to be originally an astrological or astronomical term)

consideration all evidence of more ancient volcanic activity, each of the three regions, into which, as we have seen, the continent may be divided, has been, during or since the Cretaceous period, the seat of great volcanic eruptions. In the southern region of unfolded beds are found the ladas of the " harras " of Arabia, and in India the extensive flows of the See also:

DECCAN (Sans. Dakshina, " the South ")

Deccan See also:

TRAP (0. Eng. treppe or traepee, properly a step, as that or which an animal places its foot and is caught, cf. Ger. Treppe flight of stairs)

Trap.

In the central folded belt lie the great volcanoes, now mostly See also:

EXTINCT

extinct, of Asia Minor, See also:

ARMENIA (old Persian Armina, Armenian Hayasdan, or Hayq)

Armenia, Persia and Baluchistan. In Burma also there is at least one extinct See also:

VOLCANO

volcano. In the northern unfolded region great flows of basic lava lie directly upon the Cambrian and Ordovician beds of Siberia, but are certainly in part of Tertiary age. Similar flows on a smaller scale occur in See also:

MANCHURIA

Manchuria, See also:

Korea and northern China. In all these cases, however, the eruptions have now almost ceased; and the great volcanoes of the present See also:

day lie in the islands off the eastern and south-eastern coasts. See also:

CLIMATE

CLIMATE Among the places on the globe where the temperature falls lowest are some in northern Asia, and among those where it rises highest are some in southern Asia. The mean temperature of See also:

TEMPERA (the Italian term), or DISTEMPER

Tempera-the north coast of eastern Siberia is but a few degrees See also:

TIRE

tire. above the zero of See also:

FAHRENHEIT, GABRIEL DANIEL (1686–1936)

Fahrenheit; the lowest mean tem- perature anywhere observed is about 40 Fahr., at See also:

Melville See also:

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

Island, north of the See also:

AMERICAN

American continent. The isothermals of mean See also:

ANNUAL

annual temperature lie over northern Asia on curves tolerably See also:

REGULAR

regular in their outline, having their western branches in a somewhat higher See also:

LATITUDE (Lat. latitudo, latus, broad)

latitude than their eastern; a reduction of I° of latitude corresponds approximately—and irrespective of modifications due to elevation —to a rise of 1° Fahr., as far say as 300 N., where the mean temperature is about 75° Fahr. Farther south the increase is slower, and the highest mean temperature anywhere attained in southern Asia is not much above 82° Fahr. The See also:

variations of temperature are very great in Siberia, amounting near the coast to more than Io0° Fahr., between the mean of the hottest and coldest months, and to still more between the extreme temperatures of those months. In southern Asia, and particularly near the sea, the variation between the hottest and coldest monthly means is very much less, and under the See also:

EQUATOR (Late Lat. aequator, from aequare, to make equal)

equator:it is reduced to about 5°.

In Siberia the difference between the means of the hottest and coldest months is hardly anywhere less than 60° Fahr. On the Sea of Aral it is 8o° Fahr.; and at See also:

ASTRAKHAN

Astrakhan, on the See also:

CASPIAN

Caspian, more than 50°. At See also:

TIFLIS

Tiflis it is 450. In northern China, at See also:

PEKING, or PEKIN

Peking, it is 55°, reduced to 30° at See also:

Canton, and to 200 at See also:

MANILA

Manila. In northern India the greatest difference does not exceed 40°; and itfalls off to about15°at See also:

CALCUTTA

Calcutta, and to about 10°or 12 °at Bombay and See also:

MADRAS

Madras. The temperatures at the See also:

head of the See also:

Persian Gulf approximate to those of northern India, and those of See also:

ADEN

Aden to Madras. At See also:

SINGAPORE (Malay, Singapiira, i.e. " The City of the Lion")

Singapore the range is less than 50; and at See also:

BATAVIA

Batavia in See also:

JAVA

Java, and See also:

GALLE, or POINT DE GALLE

Galle in See also:

CEYLON

Ceylon, it is about the same. The extreme temperatures in Siberia may be considered to lie between 8o° and 900 Fahr. for See also:

MAXIMA

maxima, and between --4o°and70°Fahr. for minima. The extreme of See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat near the Caspian and Aral Seas rises to nearly Too° Fahr., while that of 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 falls to -20° Fahr. or lower. Compared with these figures, we find in southern Asia See also:

ITO, HIROBUMI, PRINCE (1841-1909)

Ito° or See also:

II2° Fahr. as a maximum hardly ever exceeded. The See also:

ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute minimum in northern India, in See also:

lat. 30°, hardly goes below 32°; at Calcutta it is about 40°, though the thermometer seldom falls to 50°.

At Madras it rarely falls as See also:

low as 65°, or at Bombay below 60°. At Singapore and Batavia the thermometer very rarely falls below 70°, or rises above 900. At Aden the minimum is a few degrees below 70°, the maximum not much exceeding 90°. 744 These figures sufficiently indicate the main characteristics of the See also:

air temperatures of Asia. Throughout its northern portion the See also:

winter is long and of extreme severity; and even down to the circle of 35° N. lat., the minimum temperature is almost as low as zero of Fahrenheit. The summers are hot, though See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short in the northern latitudes, the maximum of summer heat being comparatively little less than that observed in the tropical countries farther south. The moderating effect of the proximity of the ocean is See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt in an important degree along the southern and eastern parts of Asia, where the land is broken up into islands or peninsulas. The great elevations above the sea-level of the central part of Asia, and of the table-lands of Afghanistan and Persia, tend to exaggerate the winter cold; while the sterility of the See also:

SURFACE

surface, due to the small rainfall over the same region, operates powerfully in the opposite direction in increasing the summer heat. In the summer a great See also:

ACCUMULATION (from Lat. accumulare, to heap up)

accumulation of See also:

SOLAR, SOLLER (Lat. solarium, Fr.• galetas, Ital. solaio)

solar heat takes place on the dry surface See also:

SOIL

soil, from which it cannot be released upwards by evaporation, as might be the See also:

case were the soil moist or covered with vegetation, nor can it be readily conveyed away downwards as happens on the ocean. In the winter similar consequences ensue, in a negative direction, from the prolonged loss of heat by See also:

RADIATION, THEORY OF

radiation in the long and clear nights—an effect which is intensified wherever the surface is covered with 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, or the air little charged with vapour. In See also:

ILLUSTRATION

illustration of the very slow See also:

DIFFUSION (from the Lat. diffundere; dis-, asunder, and fundere, to pour out)

diffusion of heat in the solid crust of the earth, and as affording a further indication of the climate of northern Asia, reference may here be made to the frozen soil of Siberia, in the vicinity of See also:

YAKUTSK

Yakutsk. In this region the earth is frozen permanently to a See also:

DEPTH

depth of more than 38o ft. at which the temperature is still 5° or 6° Fahr. below the freezing point of See also:

WATER

water, the summer heat merely thawing the surface to a depth of about 3 ft.

At a depth of 50 ft. the temperature is about 15 Fahr. below the freezing point. Under such conditions of the soil, the land, nevertheless, produces crops of See also:

wheat and other See also:

GRAIN (derived through the French from Lat. granum, seed, from an Aryan root meaning " to wear down," which also appears in the common Teutonic word " corn ")

grain from fifteen to See also:

FORTY

forty See also:

FOLD

fold. The very high summer temperatures of the area north of the tropic of See also:

Cancer are sufficiently accounted for, when compared with those observed south of the tropic, by the increased length of the day in the higher latitude, which more than compensates for the loss of heat due to the smaller See also:

mid-day See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude of the See also:

sun. The difference between the See also:

HEATING

heating See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of the sun's rays at See also:

NOON

noon on the See also:

list of See also:

JUNE

June, in latitude 20° and in latitude 45°, is only about 2%; while the accumulated heat received during the day, which is lengthened to 151 See also:

HOURS, CANONICAL

hours in the higher latitude, is greater by about i i % than in the lower latitude, where the day consists only of 131 hours. Although the foregoing account of the temperatures of Asia supplies the main outline of the observed phenomena, a very important modifying cause, of which more will be said hereafter, comes into operation over the whole of the tropical region, namely, the periodical summer rains. These tend very greatly to See also:

ARREST (Fr. arrester, arreeter, to stop or stay)

arrest the increase of the summer heat over the area where they prevail, and otherwise give it altogether See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar characteristics. The great summer heat, by expanding the air upwards, disturbs the level of the planes of equal pressure, and causes an outflow of the upper strata from the heated area. The winter cold produces an effect of just an opposite nature, and causes an accumulation of air over the cold area, The diminution of barometric pressure which takes place all over Asia during the summer months, and the increase in the winter, are hence, no doubt, the results of the alternate heating and cooling of the air over the continent. The necessary and immediate results of such periodical changes of pressure are winds, which, speaking generally, See also:

BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow from the area of greatest to that of least pressure—subject, however, to certain modifications of direction, arising from the absolute See also:

motion of the whole See also:

BODY

body of the air due to the revolution of the earth on its See also:

AXIS (Lat. for " axle ")

axis from west to east. The south-See also:

WESTERLY

westerly winds which prevail north of the equator during the hot See also:

HALF

half of the See also:

YEAR

year, to which navigators have given the name of the south-west See also:

monsoon (the latter word being a corruption of the Indian name for 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), arise from the great diminution of atmospheric pressure over Asia, which begins to be strongly marked with the great rise of temperature in See also:

APRIL

April and May, and the simultaneous relatively higher pressure over the equator and the regions south of it. This diminution of pressure, which continues as the heat increases till it reaches its maximum in See also:

JULY

July soon after the See also:

SOLSTICE (Lat. solstitium, from sal, sun, and sistere, to stand still)

solstice, is followed by the corresponding development of the south-west monsoon; and as the barometric pressure is gradually restored, and becomes equalized within the tropics soon after the See also:

EQUINOX (from the Lat. aequus, equal, and nox, night)

equinox in See also:

OCTOBER

October, with the general fall of temperature north of the equator, the south-west winds fall off, and are succeeded by a north-east monsoon, which is developed during the winter months by the relatively greater atmospheric pressure which then occurs over Asia, as compared with the See also:

EQUATORIAL

equatorial region. Although the succession of the periodical winds follows the progress of the seasons as just described, the changes in the See also:

wind's direction everywhere take place under the operation of See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

LOCAL

local influences which often disguise the more general See also:

law, and make it difficult to trace.

Thus the south-west monsoon begins in the Arabian Sea with west and north-westerly winds,which draw See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round as the year advances to south-west and fall back again in the autumn by north-west to north. In the See also:

Bay of See also:

Bengal the strength of the south-west monsoon is rather from the south and south-east, being(See also:

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

METEOROLOGY succeeded by north-east winds after October, which give place to northerly and north-westerly winds as the year advances. Among the islands of the See also:

MALAY

Malay See also:

ARCHIPELAGO

Archipelago the force of the monsoons is much interrupted, and the position of this region on the equator otherwise modifies the directions of the prevailing winds. The southerly summer winds of the Asiatic seas between the equator and the tropic do not extend to the coasts of Java, and the south-easterly See also:

trade winds are there developed in the usual manner. The China Sea is fully exposed to both monsoons, the normal directions of which nearly coincide with the centre of the channel between the continent of Asia and the eastern islands. The south-west monsoon does not generally extend, in its charactee of a south-west wind, over the land. The current of air flowing in from over the sea is gradually diverted towards the area of least pressure, and at the same time is dissipated and loses much of its See also:

ORIGINAL

original force. The winds which pass northward over India blow as south-easterly and easterly winds over the north-eastern part of the Gangetic See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain, and as south winds up the See also:

INDUS

Indus. They seem almost entirely to have exhausted their northward velocity by the time they have reached the northern extremity of the great Indian plain; they are not felt on the table-lands of Afghanistan, and hardly penetrate into the Indus basin or the ranges of the See also:

HIMALAYA

Himalaya, by which mountains, and those which See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch off from them into the Malay peninsula, they are prevented from continuing their progress in the direction originally imparted to them. Among the more remarkable phenomena of the hotter seas of Asia must be noticed the revolving storms or cyclones, which are of frequent occurrence in the hot months in the Indian Ocean and China Sea, in which last they are known under the name of See also:

TYPHOON (probably from the Arabic and Hindustani tufCat, a tempest, which is perhaps derived from Typhon, q.v.: the Chinese t'ai Tung, strong wind, is not used in application to typhoons)

typhoon The cyclones of the Bay of Bengal appear to originate over the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and are commonly propagated in a north-westward direction, striking the east coast of the Indian peninsula at various points, and then often advancing with an easterly tendency over the land, and passing with extreme violence across the See also:

DELTA (from the shape of the Gr. letter A, delta, originally used of the mouth of the Nile)

delta of the See also:

GANGES (GANGA)

Ganges. They occur in all the hot months, from June to October, and more rarely in See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November, and appear to be originated by adverse currents from the north See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting those of the south-west monsoon. The cyclones of the China Sea also occur in the hot months of the year, but they advance from north-east to south-west, though occasionally from east to west; they originate near the island of See also:

Formosa, and extend to about the loth degree of N. lat.

They are thus developed in nearly the same latitudes and in the same months as those of the Indian Sea, though their progress is in a different direction. In both cases, however, the storms appear to advance towards the area of greatest heat. In these storms the wind invariably circulates from north by west through south to east. The heated body of air carried from the Indian Ocean over southern Asia by the south-west monsoon comes up highly charged with watery vapour, and hence in a See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition to See also:

RELEASE (O.Fr. reles, variant of relais, from relaisser, to release, let go, Lat. relaxare)

release a large body of water as 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 upon the land, whenever it is Rainfall. brought into circumstances which reduce its temperature in a notable degree. Such a reduction of temperature is brought about along the greater part of the coasts of India and of the Burmo-Siamese peninsula by the interruption of the wind. current by continuous ranges of mountains, which force the mass of air to rise over them, whereby the air being rarefied, its specific capacity for heat is increased and its temperature falls, with a corresponding condensation of the vapour originally held in suspension. This explanation of the principal efficient cause of the summer rains of south Asia is immediately based on an See also:

ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis of the complicated phenomena actually observed, and it serves to account for many apparent anomalies. The heaviest falls of rain occur along lines of mountain of some extent directly facing the vapour-bearing winds, as on the Western See also:

GHATS, or GHAUTS (literally " the Landing Stairs " from the sea, or " Passes ")

Ghats of India and the west coast of the Malay peninsula. The same results are found along the mountains at a distance from the sea, the heaviest rainfall known to occur any-where in the See also:

WORLD

world (not less than 60o in. in the year) being recorded on the Khasi range about See also:

LOO (formerly called " Lanterloo," Fr. lanturlu, the refrain of a popular 17th-century song)

loo m. north-east of Calcutta, which presents an abrupt front to the progress of the moist winds flowing up from the Bay of Bengal. The cessation of the rains on the southern border of Baluchistan, west of See also:

KARACHI, or KURRACHEE

Karachi, obviously arises from the See also:

PROJECTION

projection of the south-east coast of Arabia, which limits the breadth of.the south-west monsoon air current and the length of the coast-See also:

LINE

line directly exposed to it. The very small and irregular rainfall in See also:

SIND

Sind and along the Indus is to be accounted for by the want of any obstacle in the path of the vapour-bearing winds, which, therefore, carry the uncondensed rain up to the See also:

PUNJAB

Punjab, where it falls on the outer ranges of the western Himalaya and of Afghanistan. The diurnal mountain winds are very strongly marked on the Himalaya, where they probably are the most active agents in deter-See also:

MINING

mining the precipitation of rain along the See also:

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

chain—the monsoon currents, as before stated, not penetrating among the mountains. The formation of dense See also:

banks of 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 in the afternoon, when the up wind is strongest, along the southern See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face of the snowy ranges of the Himalaya, is a regular daily phenomenon during the hotter months of the year, and .heavy rain, accompanied by See also:

electrical discharges, is the frequent result of such condensation.

Too little is known of the greater part of Asia to admit of any more being said with reference to this part of the subject, than to Pressure end Winds. mention a few facts bearing on the rainfall. In northern Asia there is a generally equal rainfall of 19 to 29 in. between the See also:

VOLGA (known to the Tatars as Etil, Jill or Atel; to the Finnish tribes as Rau, and to the ancients as Rha and Oarus)

Volga and the Lena in Manchuria and northern China, rather more considerable increase in Korea, See also:

SIAM (known to its inhabitants as Muang Thai)

Siam and Japan. At Tiflis the yearly fall is 22 in.; on the Caspian about 7 or 8 in.; on the Sea of Aral 5 or 6 in. In south-western Siberia it is 12 or 14 in., diminishing as we proceed eastward to 6 or 7 in. at See also:

BARNAUL

Barnaul, and to 5 or 6 in. at See also:

URGA (the Russian form of the Mongol Orgo = palace of a high official)

Urga in northern Mongolia. In eastern Siberia it is about 15 to 20 in. In China we find about 23 in. to be the fall at Peking; while at Canton, which lies nearly on the northern tropic and the region of the south-west monsoon is entered, the quantity is increased to 78 in. At Batavia in Java the fall is about 78 in.; at Singapore it is nearly too in. The quantity increases considerably on that part of the coast of the Malay peninsula which is not sheltered from the south-west by See also:

SUMATRA

Sumatra. On the See also:

TENASSERIM

Tenasserim and Burmese coast falls of more than 200 in. are registered, and the quantity is here nowhere less than 75 or 8o in., which is about the See also:

AVERAGE

average of the eastern part of the delta of the Ganges, Calcutta standing at about 64 in. On the hills that flank Bengal on the east the fall is very great. On the Khasi hills, at an elevation of about 4500 ft., the average of ten years is more than 55o in.

As much as 150 in. has been measured in one See also:

month, and 610 in. in one year. On the west coast of the Indian peninsula the fall at the sea-level varies from about 75 to too in., and at certain elevations on the mountains more than 250 in. is commonly registered, with intermediate quantities at intervening localities. On the east coast the fall is far less, nowhere rising to 5o in., and towards the southern See also:

APEX

apex of the peninsula being reduced to 25 or 30 in. Ceylon shows from 6o to 8o in. As we recede from the coast the fall diminishes, till it is reduced to about 25 or 30 in. at the head of the Gangetic plain. The See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract along the Indus to within 6o or 8o m. of the Himalaya is almost rainless, 6 or 8 in. being the fall in the southern portion of the Punjab. On the outer ranges of the Himalaya the yearly fall amounts to about 200 in. on the east in See also:

SIKKIM

Sikkim, and gradually diminishes on the west, where north of the Punjab it is about 70 or 8o in. In the interior of the chain the rain is far less, and the quantity of precipitation is so small in Tibet that it can be hardly measured. It is to the greatly reduced fall of snow on the northern faces of the highest ranges of the Himalaya that is to be attributed the higher level of the snow-line, a phenomenon which was long a cause of discussion. In Afghanistan, Persia, Asia Minor and Syria, winter and 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 appear to be the chief seasons of condensation. In other parts of Asia the principal part of the rain falls between May and See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September, that is, in the hottest half of the year. In the islands under the equator the heaviest fall is between October and See also:

FEBRUARY

February.

(R.

End of Article: SEA OF

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