Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, February 1899: Volume LIV, No. 4, February 1899Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, February 1899: Volume LIV, No. 4, February 1899
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
We shall, if possible, time the second excursion immediately after a
heavy rain, and we shall select for our objective point a place where
the rain water, in its efforts to reach a stream, is forced to run
down some steep declivity. Under such circumstances, the carrying
power of the water will be very great, and we shall hope to find
evidence of its work in transporting the products of rock weathering
and other material broken up by the action of frost. A little
diligence will soon reward us with the evidence which we seek. A local
inequality of the ground, perhaps only a few feet across, is found
filled with water--a minute, temporary lake caused by the recent heavy
rainfall. Such little water bodies are extremely common, but the
accompanying geological phenomena are, notwithstanding, none the less
interesting, and the conclusions to be drawn from the evidence thus
presented are none the less valuable.
If we examine the pool critically, it will be noticed that its shore
line is cut by a little channel along which the overflow makes its
escape. Further investigation will show that at another point along
the shore, especially if we are fortunate enough to visit the locality
very soon after a rain, there is a small rivulet entering the pool;
and also that the entering stream is discolored with mud and carries
more or less sand, while the escaping stream is nearly clear, and is
free from all traces of coarse, sandy material. It is therefore
evident that the sediment brought in by the stream has been left
behind in the pool, and of course will be found deposited at its
bottom, and it will appear that the only explanation of the inability
of the water further to transport its burden is to be found in the
fact that water loses nearly all its motion, and therefore its
transporting power, on entering a stagnant pool. These are elementary
truths, but an amplification of such simple phenomena is often fully
capable of accounting for the most stupendous results.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--TEMPORARY WET-WEATHER DELTA.]
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