Geology, Vol. 1 [of 3] : $b Geologic processes and their resultsSalisbury, Rollin D.
Science
Geology, Vol. 1 [of 3] : $b Geologic processes and their results
Salisbury, Rollin D.
Geology
At the mouths of ice-tunnels or ice-channels, especially where they
end against terminal moraines, sands and gravels are liable to be
bunched in quantity, giving rise, after the adjacent ice has melted,
to peculiar hills and hollows of the knob-and-basin type. The hills
and short ridges are known as _kames_ (see glacial period). Subglacial
streams may leave washed and assorted material in their tracks under
the ice, and this is sometimes buried under deposits made by the ice
itself, so that glacio-fluvial and glacial deposits are interbedded.
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 283.—Delta at Isola, Lake of Sils, Engadine,
Switzerland. (Reid.)]
ICEBERGS.
When glaciers advance into water, the depth of which approaches their
thickness, their ends are broken off (Fig. 284), and the detached
masses float away as icebergs (Fig. 285). Many of the bergs are
overturned, or at least tilted, as they set sail. If this does not
happen at the outset, it is likely to occur later as the result of the
melting and wave-cutting which disturb their equilibrium. The great
majority of bergs do not travel far before losing all trace of stony
and earthy débris, but the finding of glacial material in dredgings far
south of all glaciers shows that they occasionally carry stones far
from land.
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 284.—End of Muir glacier, Alaska. (Reid.)]
THE INTIMATE STRUCTURE AND THE MOVEMENT OF GLACIERS.
With the preceding account of glaciers in mind, we may return to a
closer study of their origin, their intimate structure, and their mode
of motion. The key to this study is the thesis that a glacier is a mass
of crystalline rock—the purest and simplest type of crystalline rock
known—since it is made up of a single mineral of simple composition
and rare purity, which never appears in a solid state except in the
crystalline form.
=The growth and constitution of a glacier.=—The origin and history
of a glacier is little more than the origin and aggregate history of
the crystals that compose it. The fundamental conception of a glacier
is therefore best obtained by tracing the growth of its constituent
crystals. A basal fact ever to be kept in mind is that water in
the solid form is always controlled by crystalline forces. When it
solidifies from the vapor of the atmosphere it takes the form of
separate crystals (Figs. 286–291). Perfect forms are developed only
when the flakes fall quietly through a saturated atmosphere which
allows them to grow as they descend. Under other conditions, the
crystals are imperfect in growth and are mutilated by impact. But
however modified, they are always crystals. The molecules are arranged
on the hexagonal plan, and, as the expansive power of freezing water
shows, the arrangement is controlled by a strong force. Once the
definite crystalline arrangement is established, the molecules can be
displaced only by relatively great force.
[Illustration: +Fig.+ 285.—An iceberg, west coast of Greenland.]
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