The enclosed and almost tideless Baltic apparently tells the same story, for at Rostock at its southern end, a submerged peat-bed has been met with at a depth of 46 feet. On passing northward into Scandinavia we enter an area in which, as in Scotland, recent changes in sea-level have been complicated by tilting, so that ancient beach-lines no longer correspond in elevation at different places. The deformation has been so great that it is impossible to trace the submerged forests; they may be represented in the north by the raised beaches, which in Norway and Sweden, as in Scotland and the north of Ireland, seem to belong to a far more recent period than the raised beaches of the south of England. It seems useless to attempt to continue our researches on submerged forests further in this direction, especially as during the latest stages, when we know England was sinking, Gothland appears to have been slowly rising. Those who wish to learn about the changes that took place in the south of Sweden should refer to the recent monograph by Dr Munthe. CHAPTER V THE IRISH SEA AND THE BRISTOL CHANNEL On the west coast of Scotland, as on the east, the succession of events seems to have been quite different from that which can be proved further south. It looks as though we must seek for equivalents of our submerged forests in certain very modern looking raised beaches and estuarine deposits, such as those of the Clyde. Even when we move southward to the Isle of Man deeply submerged post-glacial land-surfaces appear to be unknown, though there is evidence of a slight sinking, and roots of trees are found a few feet below the sea-level. In the Isle of Man we still come across the modern-looking raised beaches so prevalent in Scotland though unknown in England. The Lancashire and Cheshire coasts, with their numerous deep estuaries and extensive flats, are noted, however, for their submerged forests, sometimes seen on the foreshore between tide-marks, sometimes laid open in the extensive dock or harbour works. The Heysham Harbour excavations, for instance, were carried far below sea-level and a thin peat-bed was met with in a boring at 52 feet below Ordnance datum. Mellard Reade considered this peat once to have been continuous with an ancient land-surface seen between tide-marks. A boring is not altogether satisfactory evidence for the occurrence of a land-surface at such a depth; but if it is trustworthy it points to a subsidence of about 60 feet, an amount identical with that observed in the Thames Valley. The estuaries of the Ribble, Mersey, and Dee tell a similar story, for on their shores and under their marshes are found some of the most extensive submerged land-surfaces now traceable in Britain. Many accounts of these have been published; but the alternations of marine with freshwater strata and with land-surfaces are so like those already described that a short account will suffice.