Man and the Glacial PeriodWright, G. Frederick (George Frederick)
History
Man and the Glacial Period
Wright, G. Frederick (George Frederick)
Glacial epoch; Prehistoric peoples
"At Speeton the evidence of ice-sheet or glacier-work is of the most
striking character. On the top of the cliffs of Cretaceous strata a line
of moraine-hills has been laid down, extending in wonderful perfection
for a distance of six miles. They consist of a mixture of sand,
gravel, and a species of clay-rubble, with occasional masses of true
boulder-clay, the whole showing the arched bedding so characteristic
of such accumulations. At the northerly end the moraine keeps close to
the edge of the chalk cliffs, which are there 400 feet high, and the
hills are frequently displayed in section; but as the elevation of the
cliffs declines they fall back from the edge of the cliffs and run quite
across the headland of Flamborough, and are again exposed in section in
Bridlington Bay. One remarkable and significant fact is pointed out,
namely, that behind this moraine, within half a mile and at a lower
level, the country is almost absolutely devoid of any drift whatever.
[Illustration: Fig. 43.--Moraine between Speeton and Flamborough
(Lamplugh).]
"The interpretation of these phenomena is as follows: When the
valley-glaciers reached the sea they suffered the deflection which has
been mentioned, partly as the result of the interference of ice from
the east of Scotland, but also influenced directly by the cause which
operated upon the Scottish ice and gave direction to it--that is, the
impact of a great glacier from Scandinavia, which almost filled the North
Sea, and turned in the eastward-flowing ice upon the British coast.
"It is easy to see how this pressure must have forced the glacier-ice
against the Yorkshire coast, but vertical chalk cliffs 400 feet in
height are not readily surmounted by ice of any thickness, however
great, and so it coasted along and discharged its lateral moraine upon
the cliff-tops. As the cliffs diminished in height we find the moraine
farther inland, and, as I have pointed out, the ice completely overrode
Flamborough Head. Amongst the boulders at Flamborough are many of Shap
granite, a few Galloway granites, a profusion of Carboniferous rocks,
brought by the Tyne branch of the Sol way Glacier as well as by that of
Stainmoor, and, besides many torn from the cliffs of Yorkshire, a few
examples of unquestionable Scandinavian rocks, such as the well-known
_Rhomben-porphyr_. It is important to note that about ten to twenty
miles from the Yorkshire coast there is a tract of sea-bottom called
by trawlers 'the rough ground,' in allusion to the fact that it is
strewn with large boulders, amongst which are many of Shap granite. This
probably represents a moraine of the Teesdale Glacier, laid down at a
time when the Scandinavian Glacier was not at its greatest development.
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