Evolution (Biology); Glacial epoch; Human beings -- Origin; Human evolution
Whatever may be the cause, the fact is certain, that over large areas
in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, I might add throughout the northern
hemisphere on both sides of the Atlantic, the stratified drift of the
glacial period is very commonly devoid of fossils, in spite of the
occurrence here and there, at the height of 500, 700, and even
1400 feet, of marine shells. These, when met with, belong, with few
exceptions, to known living species. I am therefore unable to agree with
Mr. Kjerulf that the amount of former submergence can be measured by the
extreme height at which shells happen to have been found.
GLACIAL FORMATIONS IN ENGLAND.
[Illustration: Figure 38. Dome-shaped Rocks]
(FIGURE 38. DOME-SHAPED ROCKS, OR "ROCHES MOUTONEES," IN THE VALLEY
OF THE ROTHAY, NEAR AMBLESIDE, FROM A DRAWING BY E. HULL, F.G.S.*
(* "Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal" volume 11 Plate 1 page 31
1860.))
The mountains of Cumberland and Westmorland, and the English lake
district, afford equally unequivocal vestiges of ice-action not only
in the form of polished and grooved surfaces, but also of those rounded
bosses before mentioned as being so abundant in the Alpine valleys of
Switzerland, where glaciers exist, or have existed. Mr. Hall has
lately published a faithful account of these phenomena, and has given
a representation of some of the English "roches moutonnees," which
precisely resemble hundreds of dome-shaped protuberances in North Wales,
Sweden, and North America.*
(* Hull, "Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal" July 1860.)
The marks of glaciation on the rocks, and the transportation of erratics
from Cumberland to the eastward, have been traced by Professor Phillips
over a large part of Yorkshire, extending to a height of 1500 feet above
the sea; and similar northern drift has been observed in Lancashire,
Cheshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire. It
is rare to find marine shells, except at heights of 200 or 300 feet;
but a few instances of their occurrence have been noticed, especially
of Turritella communis (a gregarious shell), far in the interior, at
elevations of 500 feet, and even of 700 in Derbyshire, and some adjacent
counties, as I learn from Mr. Binney and Mr. Prestwich.
Such instances are of no small theoretical interest, as enabling us
to account for the scattering of large erratic blocks at equal or
much greater elevations, over a large part of the northern and midland
counties, such as could only have been conveyed to their present sites
by floating ice. Of this nature, among others, is a remarkable angular
block of syenitic greenstone, 4 1/2 feet by 4 feet square, and 2 feet
thick, which Mr. Darwin describes as lying on the summit of Ashley
Heath, in Staffordshire, 803 feet above the sea, resting on New Red
Sandstone.*
(* Ancient Glaciers of Caernarvonshire, "Philosophical
Magazine" series 3, 21 page 180.)
SIGNS OF ICE-ACTION AND SUBMERGENCE IN IRELAND DURING THE GLACIAL
PERIOD.
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