The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 3, July, 1889Various
Science
The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 3, July, 1889
Various
Geography -- Periodicals
25. _Constructional Permian topography and consequent drainage_.--A
rough restoration of the early constructional topography is given in
fig. 21 for the central part of the State, the closest shading being
the area of the Trenton limestone, indicating the highest ground, or
better, the places of greatest elevation, while the Carboniferous area
is unshaded, indicating the early lowlands. The prevalence of northeast
and southwest trends was then even more pronounced than now. Several of
the stronger elements of form deserve names, for convenient reference.
Thus we have the great Kittatinny or Cumberland highland, C, C, on the
southeast, backed by the older mountains of Cambrian and Archean rocks,
falling by the Kittatinny slope to the synclinal lowland troughs of the
central district. In this lower ground lay the synclinal troughs of the
eastern coal regions, and the more local Broad Top basin, BT, on the
southwest, then better than now deserving the name of basins. Beyond
the corrugated area that connected the coal basins rose the great
Nittany highland, N, and its southwest extension in the Bedford range,
with the less conspicuous Kishicoquilas highland, K, in the foreground.
Beyond all stretched the great Alleghany lowland plains. The names thus
suggested are compounded of the local names of to-day and the
morphological names of Permian time.
What would be the drainage of such a country? Deductively we are led to
believe that it consisted of numerous streams as marked in full lines
on the figure, following synclinal axes until some master streams led
them across the intervening anticlinal ridges at the lowest points of
their crests and away into the open country to the northwest. All the
enclosed basins would hold lakes, overflowing at the lowest part of the
rim. The general discharge of the whole system would be to the
northwest. Here again we must resort to special names for the easy
indication of these well-marked features of the ancient and now
apparently lost drainage system. The master stream of the region is the
great Anthracite river, carrying the overflow of the Anthracite lakes
off to the northwest and there perhaps turning along one of the faintly
marked synclines of the plateau and joining the original Ohio, which
was thus confirmed in its previous location across the Carboniferous
marshes. The synclinal streams that entered the Anthracite lakes from
the southwest may be named, beginning on the south, the Swatara, S,
fig. 21, the Wiconisco, Wo, the Tuscarora-Mahanoy, M, the
Juniata-Catawissa, C, and the Wyoming, Wy. One of these, probably the
fourth, led the overflow from the Broad Top lake into the Catawissa
lake on the middle Anthracite river. The Nittany highland formed a
strong divide between the central and northwestern rivers, and on its
outer slope there must have been streams descending to the Alleghany
lowlands; and some of these may be regarded as the lower courses of
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