The Popular Science Monthly, June, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900Various
Science
The Popular Science Monthly, June, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
Rapidly following the establishment of these two important classes
of valleys came the recognition of the very antithesis of antecedent
rivers in those streams which have grown by headward erosion along
belts of weak structure, without relation to the initial trough lines.
To these the term ‘subsequent’ has been applied. It is frequently
in association with streams of this class that drainage areas are
rearranged by the migration of divides, and that the upper waters
of one river are captured by the headward growth of another. This
is accomplished by a most beautiful process of inorganic natural
selection, which leads to a survival of the fittest and thus brings
about a most intimate adjustment of form to structure, whereby the
more resistent rock masses come to constitute the divides, and the
less resistent are chosen for the excavation of valleys. Many workers
have contributed to the solution of problems of this class; notably
Heim, in his studies of the northern Alps (1876), and Löwl, who
showed that, in folded mountain structures of great age, the original
courses of streams might be greatly altered through the development of
new lines of drainage (1882). A valuable summary of this subject is
given by Philippson in his ‘Studien über Wasserscheiden’ (1886). The
extraordinary depredations committed by the waxing Severn on the waning
Thames have recently been set forth by Buckman. The turning of side
branches from the slender trunk of the Meuse has been recognized in
France. Many remarkable instances of stream captures have been found in
the Appalachians, where the opportunity for the adjustment of streams
to structures has been exceptionally good. Hayes and Campbell have, on
the other hand, emphasized the importance of drainage modifications
independent of the growth of subsequent streams on weak structures,
but governed by a slight tilting of the region, whereby some streams
are accelerated and their opponents are retarded. It should be noted
that the proof of the adjustment or rearrangement of drainage marks a
victory for the uniformitarian school that is even more significant
than that gained in the case of the antecedent rivers; for in one case
a growing mountain range is subdued by the concentrated discharge of a
large drainage area; but in the other case, the mountain slowly melts
away under the attacks of the weather alone on the headwater slopes of
the growing valleys.
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