Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays, Addresses, and Reviews. V. 1-2Tyndall, John
Science
Fragments of Science: A Series of Detached Essays, Addresses, and Reviews. V. 1-2
Tyndall, John
Chemistry; Physics; Science
Adhering to the facts now presented to us, it is not difficult to
restore in idea the process by which the glaciers of Lochaber were
produced and the glens dammed by ice. When the cold of the glacial
epoch began to invade the Scottish hills, the sun at the same time
acting with sufficient power upon the tropical ocean, the vapours
raised and drifted on to these 'northern mountains were more and more
converted into snow. This slid down the slopes, and from every
valley, strath, and corry, south of Glen Spean, glaciers were poured
into that glen. The two great factors here brought into play are the
nutrition of the glaciers by the frozen material above, and their
consumption in the milder air below. For a period supply exceeded
consumption, and the ice extended, filling Glen Spean to an
ever-increasing height, and abutting against the mountains to the
north of that glen. But why, it may be asked, should the valleys
south of Glen Spean be receptacles of ice at a time when those north
of it were receptacles of water? The answer is to be found in the
position and the greater elevation of the mountains south of Glen
Spean. They first received the loads of moisture carried by the
Atlantic winds, and not until they had been in part dried, and also
warmed by the liberation of their latent heat, did these winds touch
the hills north of the Glen.
An instructive observation bearing upon this point is here to be
noted. Had our visit been in the winter we should have found all the
mountains covered; had it been in the summer we should have found the
snow all gone. But happily it was at a season when the aspect of the
mountains north and south of Glen Spean exhibited their relative
powers as snow collectors. Scanning the former hills from many points
of view, we were hardly able to detect a fleck of snow, while heavy
swaths and patches loaded the latter. Were the glacial epoch to
return, the relation indicated by this observation would cause Glen
Spean to be filled with glaciers from the south, while the hills and
valleys on the north, visited by warmer and drier winds, would remain
comparatively free from ice. This flow from the south would be
reinforced from the west, and as long as the supply was in excess of
the consumption the glaciers would extend, the dams which closed the
glens increasing in height. By-and-by supply and consumption becoming
approximately equal, the height of the glacier barriers would remain
constant. Then, as milder weather set in, consumption would be in
excess, a lowering of the barriers and a retreat of the ice being the
consequence. But for a long time the conflict between supply and
consumption would continue, retarding indefinitely the disappearance
of the barriers, and keeping the imprisoned lakes in the northern
glens. But however slow its retreat, the ice in the long run would be
forced to yield. The dam at the mouth of Glen Roy, which probably
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