Author Description

The Abyssal Plain. If You Could Walk Directly Into The Sea, Through The Surf And Away From The Land, You Would Be Likely To Descend A Gentle Slope For Two Or Three Days. The Water Over Your Head Would Gradually Become Deeper, Until The Surface Was About 200m Above, Say Two Average City Blocks Away. About This Time The Gradient Would Begin To Increase, And Soon You Are Walking Quite Steeply Downhill, With The Surface Rapidly Receding. The Sediment Beneath Your Feet Will Thicken As You Approach The Edge Of The Continent, Where The Soil And Debris Washed From The Land Eventually Accumulates. At The End Of A Long Day's Walk The Gradient Eases And You Stride Out Onto A Prairie That Stretches Away Into The Far Distance, Flat And Featureless, Or Sometimes With Rolling Hills Or Even Studded With Sudden Abrupt Mountains. The Surface Is Now Quite Far Away, Not Mere City Blocks But The Whole Downtown Core Of A Large City Distant From Where You Stand. You Have Arrived At The Edge Of The Abyssal Plain. The Details Of Your Walk Will Vary According To Where You Start Out, And Might Be Quite Different If You Begin In Eastern Canada And Walk Into The Atlantic, Say, Or In Western Canada And Walk Into The North Pacific. In Either Case, Though, You Will Eventually Reach The Abyssal Plain, Where The Last Of The Land Has Been Left Behind And Nothing Is Familiar--