The Paths Of The Seas:

The Bible says

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than God, And crownest him with glory and honor. Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, Yea, and the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, Whatsoever passeththrough the paths of the seas. [Psalms 8:4-8] [Emphasis Added]

When the Bible speaks of “the paths of the seas” it is more than likely that it is referring to ocean currents, which was discovered by man only in the 1850’s. The following history of the discovery of these “paths” has been excerpted from Answers in Genesis…

American naval officer and oceanographer Matthew Maury (1806-1873) who wrote the first textbook on modern oceanography called The Physical Geography of the Sea and Its Meteorology, was a Christian who had no doubts about the accuracy of the Bible. After an accident partially disabled him ending his active duty with the Navy, he was appointed superintendent of the US Naval Observatory in Washington. “In his Bible studies, the words of Psalm 8 stuck in his mind: ‘ … whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas’. Maury determined that if God’s Word said there were ‘paths’ in the seas, then there must be paths. So he set out to find them.

He studied old ships’ logs. From these he compiled charts of ocean-wind and sea currents. To study the speed and direction of the ocean currents Maury set adrift weighted bottles known as ‘drift bottles’. These floated slightly below the surface of the water, and thus were not affected by wind. Instructions were sealed in each bottle directing anyone who found one washed ashore to return it. From the location and date on which the bottles were found, Maury was able to develop his charts of the ocean currents—the ‘paths’ of the seas—which greatly aided the science of marine navigation”. [1]

Mountains Under The Seas:

When Jonah, who lived some 2,800 years ago, was in the depths of the ocean, he spoke of going down to the “bottoms of the mountains”. [Emphasis Added]

“I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet have you brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.” [Jonah 2:6]

3-D sonar image around the South Sandwich Islands, South Atlantic Ocean.

Only in recent years has man discovered that there are mountains on the ocean floor. The greatest ocean depth has been sounded in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana’s Trench, a distance of 35,798 feet below sea level. Mount Everest is 29,035 feet high.

Springs Under The Seas:

Hydrothermal vents are found in areas of the ocean floor that are spreading, such as at mid-ocean ridges, where tectonic plates are being pulled apart. Molten magma then rises from deep inside the Earth, superheating the cold ocean water around it. The average temperature of deep-ocean water is only 2°C (36°F). The water coming directly from a hydrothermal vent can reach up to 350°C (662°F) and is rich in dissolved chemicals. The hot spring water forms a plume above the vent, somewhat like smoke rising from a chimney into the air.

The photo below is from an expedition in April 2010 aboard the Royal Research Ship James Cook, and is said to be the most extreme discovery to date possibly exceeding 450°C (842°F).

Hydrothermal vent 5 km / 3.1mi down in a rift in the Caribbean seafloor.

The first underwater hot spring to be discovered was probably in 1977, when scientists discovered hot springs at a depth of 2.5 km, on the Galapagos Rift (spreading ridge) off the coast of Ecuador. Since then other hot springs have been found at a number of sites along the mid-oceanic ridges, many on the East Pacific Rise. Giant tube worms, huge clams, and mussels all thrive around the hot springs. [2]

Yet once again the Bible was slightly ahead of man’s discovery..

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? [Job 38:16] [Emphasis Added]

[1] Matthew Maury’s search for the secret of the seas. Answers in Genesis.http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v11/i3/maury.asp

[2] Exploring The Deep Ocean Floor: Hot Springs And Strange Creatures… http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/exploring.html

and Hot Springs on the Ocean Floor…  http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Ge-Hy/Hot-Springs-on-the-Ocean-Floor.html