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stratosphere|ˈstrætəsfɪə(r)|
[f. stratum + -o + sphere n.]
†1. Geol. [ad. G. stratosphäre (E. Suess Das Antlitz der Erde (1901) III. i. i. 4).] (See quots.) Obs.
1908H. B. C. Sollas tr. Suess's Face of Earth III. i. 2 So great is the part played by stratified deposits in the structure of the earth's crust that we might be tempted to speak of the stratosphere of the earth in contradistinction to the scoriosphere of the moon. 1909Ibid. IV. xv. 546 The stratosphere, or younger sedimentary envelope has been formed almost entirely at the expense of the Sal envelope.
2. Meteorol. The region of the atmosphere extending from the top of the troposphere up to a height of about 50 km. (the stratopause), in the lower part of which there is little temperature variation with height in temperate latitudes and in the higher part the temperature increases with height; formerly, the lower part of this region only (up to a height of about 20 km.).
1909Sci. Abstr. A. XII. 208 (heading) Variation in height of the stratosphere (isothermal layer). 1909W. N. Shaw Free Atmosphere in Region of Brit. Isles 47 M. Teisserenc de Bort has introduced the words ‘troposphere’ and ‘stratosphere’ to denote these two layers. Ibid. 48 Such evidence as we have goes to show that the stratosphere is a region of comparative calm. 1923Daily Mail 26 Feb. 5/4 In this stratosphere it has been ascertained from balloon soundings that the temperature ceases to fall with an increase in height,..up to a level of 13½ miles, the highest attained so far by any instrument of man. 1934Discovery Mar. 57/2 Professor Piccard, the Belgian physicist, was the first to make a successful flight [by balloon] into the stratosphere. 1937Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 414 It is likely to be many years before stratosphere flight, flights at heights of 40,000 feet and over, will become the commercially paying proposition which its enthusiasts believe it ultimately will be. 1951‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids ii. 39 Somewhere high up in the stratosphere, he and Comrade Baltinoff found themselves attacked by the planes. 1951[see exosphere s.v. exo-]. 1960M. Nicolet in J. A. Ratcliffe Physics of Upper Atmosphere ii. 19 The stratosphere is essentially that region where the temperature increases, or at least does not decrease, with altitude. 1963[see stratopause]. 1980Nature 27 Nov. 347/1 Air samples, collected cryogenically at different heights of the stratosphere, were analysed for carbon dioxide.
3. Oceanogr. The bottom layer of the ocean, in which (by analogy with the original meaning of sense 2) there is little temperature variation with depth.
1937Nature 26 June 1085/1 The oceanic troposphere, like the corresponding section of the atmosphere, is a relatively shallow layer marked by steep temperature gradients which contrast strongly with the more even conditions of the stratosphere. 1942H. U. Sverdrup et al. Oceans iv. 141 From analogy with the atmosphere, Defant (1928) has applied the terms troposphere and stratosphere to two different parts of the ocean. Troposphere is applied to the upper layer of relatively high temperature that is found in middle and lower latitudes and within which strong currents are present, and stratosphere to the nearly uniform masses of cold deep and bottom water. Ibid., Within the oceanic stratosphere the salinity is very uniform. 1966R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Oceanogr. 940/2 The oceanic stratosphere refers to the nearly uniform masses of cold deep water and bottom water.
4. transf. and fig. An upper region, esp. in a hierarchy; a high, or the highest, plane, level, or rank.
1951M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 62/1 The bathroom has been elevated to the very stratosphere of industrial folklore. 1952Observer 3 Feb. 5/8 Their father was a big Paris dealer who moved in the stratosphere with Anatole France and de Goncourt. 1958Listener 9 Oct. 578/2 To come down from the stratosphere of critical intentions to the rough terrain of poetry itself. 1965B. Sweet-Escott Baker Street Irregular vii. 188 Since August 1943 the stratosphere had begun to take our work in the Balkans seriously. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 609 They were astonished that Harold had upped me into the stratosphere. 1975Country Life 16 Jan. 138 With the fall-front secretaire..we are well-up in the stratosphere in terms of furniture... It was sold for 45,000 gn. 1980Daily Tel. 3 Nov. 16 At various times she has advanced three different reasons for keeping the [minimum lending] rate in the stratosphere. |