The Geography of the Region about Devil's Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin: With Some Notes on Its Surface GeologySalisbury, Rollin D.
Science
The Geography of the Region about Devil's Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin: With Some Notes on Its Surface Geology
Salisbury, Rollin D.
Physical geography; Wisconsin -- Description and travel
A rock hill was sometimes left without covering of drift after having
been severely worn by the ice. Such a hill is known as a _roche
moutonnée_. An example of this type of hill occurs three miles north of
east of Baraboo at the point marked z on Plate XXXVII. This hill,
composed of quartzite, is less symmetrical than those shown in Figs. 28
and 29. Its whole surface, not its stoss side only, has been smoothed
and polished by the ice. This hill is the most accessible, the most
easily designated, and, on the whole, the best example of a _roche
moutonnée_ in the region, though many other hills show something of the
same form.
[Illustration: Fig. 29.--The same hill after it has been eroded by the
ice. A the stoss side. B the lee side.]
It was not the hills alone which the moving ice affected. Where it
encountered valleys in its course they likewise suffered modification.
Where the course of a valley was parallel to the direction of the ice
movement, the ice moved through it. The depth of moving ice is one of
the determinants of its velocity, and because of the greater depth of
ice in valleys, its motion here was more rapid than on the uplands
above, and its abrading action more powerful. Under these conditions the
valleys were deepened and widened.
Where the courses of the valleys were transverse to the direction of ice
movement, the case was different. The ice was too viscous to span the
valleys, and therefore filled them. In this case it is evident that the
greater depth of the ice in the valley will not accelerate its motion,
since the ice in the valley-trough and that above it are in a measure
opposed. If left to itself, the ice in the valley would tend to flow in
the direction of the axis of the valley. But in the case under
consideration, the ice which lies above the valley depression is in
motion at right angles to the axis of the valley. Under these
circumstances three cases might arise:
(1) If the movement of the ice sheet over the valley were able to push
the valley ice up the farther slope, and out on the opposite highland,
this work would retard the movement of the upper ice, since the
resistance to movement would be great. In this case, the thickness of
the ice is not directly and simply a determinant of its velocity. Under
these conditions the bottom of the valley would not suffer great
erosion, since ice did not move along it; but that slope of the valley
against which the ice movement was projected would suffer great wear
(Fig. 30). The valley would therefore be widened, and the slope
suffering greatest wear would be reduced to a lower angle. Shallow
valleys, and those possessing gentle slopes, favor this phase of ice
movement and valley wear.
[Illustration: Fig. 30.--Diagram showing effect on valley of ice moving
transversely across it.]
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