A close inspection of the rock-ridges satisfies one that they have
been smoothed off by some agent pressing upon them in a direction that
coincides with their own trend; and not only so, but the smoothing
agent, it is clearly seen, must have come from the watersheds and then
pressed outwards to the low-grounds which are now watered by the Teviot
and the Tweed. This is shown by the manner in which the rocks have
been smoothed off, for their smooth faces look towards the dominant
watersheds, while their rough and unpolished sides point away in the
opposite direction. Sometimes, however, we find that more or less
steeply projecting rocks _face_ the dominant watersheds. When such is
the case, there is usually a long sloping "tail" behind the crag--a
"tail" which is composed chiefly of superficial deposits. The hills
between Hume and Stichill afford some good examples. The two kinds of
appearances are exhibited in the accompanying diagram (Figs. 10, 11.)
The appearance shown in Fig. 10 is of most common occurrence in the
upland parts of the country, while "crag and tail" (as shown in Fig.
11) is seen to greatest advantage in the open low-grounds. In both
cases it will be observed that superficial deposits (_t_) nestle behind
a more or less steep face of rock.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--"Crag and Tail"; boss of hard rock, _c_;
intersecting sandstones, _s_; superficial deposits heaped up in rear of
crag, _t_. The arrow indicates direction followed by smoothing agent.]
When the rocks have not been much exposed to the action of the
weather, they often show a polished surface covered with long parallel
grooves and striæ or scratches. Such polished and scratched surfaces
are best seen when the superficial deposits have been only recently
removed. Often, too, when we tear away the thick turf that mantles the
hill-slopes, we find the same phenomena. Indeed, wherever the rocks
have not been much acted upon by the weather, and thus broken up and
decomposed, we may expect to meet with more or less well-marked grooves
and stride. Now the remarkable circumstance about these scratches is
this--they agree in direction with the trend of the rock-ridges and the
hollows described above. Nor can we doubt that the superficial markings
have all been produced by one and the same agent. In the upper valleys
of the Cheviots, the scratches coincide in direction with the valleys,
which is, speaking generally, from south to north, but as we approach
the low-grounds they begin to turn more to the east (just, as we have
seen, is the case with the ridges and hollows), until we enter England
to the east of Coldstream, where the striæ point first nearly due east,
but eventually swing round to the south-east, as is well seen upon the
limestone rocks between Lowick and Belford. In Teviotdale the general
trend of the striæ is from south-west to north-east, a direction
which continues to hold good until the lower reaches of the Tweed
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account