The Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers, Ice and GlaciersTyndall, John
Science
The Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers, Ice and Glaciers
Tyndall, John
Clouds; Glaciers; Ice; Rivers; Water
486. One cause of this lamination is that the wax is an aggregate
of granules the surfaces of which are places of weak cohesion; and
that by the pressure these granules are squeezed flat, thus producing
planes of weakness at right angles to the pressure.
487. But the main cause of the cleavage I take to be the lateral
sliding of the particles of wax over each other. Old attachments
are thereby severed, which the new ones fail to make good. Thus the
tangential sliding produces lamination, as the rails near a station
are caused to exfoliate by the gliding of the wheel.
488. Instead of wax we may take the slate itself, grind it to fine
powder, add water, and thus reproduce the pristine mud. By the proper
compression of such mud, in one direction, the cleavage is restored.
489. Call now to mind the evidences we have had of the power of
thawing ice to yield to pressure. Recollect the shortening of the
Glacier du Géant, and the squeezing of the Glacier de Léchaud, at
Trélaporte. Such a substance, slowly acted upon by pressure, will
yield laterally. Its particles will slide over each other, the
severed attachments being immediately made good by regelation. It
will not yield uniformly, but along special planes. It will also
liquefy, not uniformly, but along special surfaces. Both the sliding
and the liquefaction will take place principally at right angles to
the pressure, and glacier lamination is the result.
490. As long as it is sound the laminated glacier ice resists
cleavage. Regelation, as I have said, makes the severed attachments
good. But when such ice is exposed to the weather the structure is
revealed, and the ice can then be cloven into tablets a square foot,
or even a square yard in area.
§ 67. _Conclusion_.
491. Here, my friend, our labours close. It has been a true pleasure
to me to have you at my side so long. In the sweat of our brows we
have often reached the heights where our work lay, but you have been
steadfast and industrious throughout, using in all possible cases
your own muscles instead of relying upon mine. Here and there I have
stretched an arm and helped you to a ledge, but the work of climbing
has been almost exclusively your own. It is thus that I should like
to teach you all things; showing you the way to profitable exertion,
but leaving the exertion to you more anxious to bring out your
manliness in the presence of difficulty than to make your way smooth
by toning difficulties down.
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