The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-12-01
surface Norements Of the rarth.

} Surface Movements OF the Earth.
The nld geological theory that from
time 10 lime the suffice Cf our earth
has been cha aged by - grand catas-
trophe, which, destroying pants
and auimuls. were, on an immense
sc9le, similar to the local eatastrophes
produced b. volcanic erHption8 and
| earthquakes. has been sblHdOned by
reaaOn Of our more correct know
! ledge, founded on oereiul observa-
iions which investigators have Eeen
/ making for many years. These OBJ
serva'ioHs have proved that sudden
ca astrDpurs are always merely local /;
i hut that all the great changes in The
! surfc CO Of eur earth, as The Uphclyal
/ Of mountain ranges and the depres-
/ zion OF valleys and their ultimate
! change into lakes aud oceans, are
grad1al and 20 always on, even at
the present dav. 'lnC mountains bor-
| drriDa the Pacific Oeagn-in fact,
the whole coast OF CaiiiOrnia-are
perpetgally raising; and have probG-
oily been doing so for half q million
years, while al the lGnd containing
IN its bosom eur great American
"a sfs lS $40 II flgkiqg Tjth h probSa tSs
Stare OF Kentucky, OF southern In
Tiana and the surrounding countries.
Geological Cvesligati0ns prove that
once our lIkes had theirOut south,
till by depression a. tie nJIth q new
outlet was first formed, about forty |
thousand years sgo, through Niagara |
to the St. Lawrence river. The di- |
vision line OF the watershed OF the |
lakes aud the u s-i-sippi valley has !
been slowly travelling southwark |
since that time; and when the city of |
CHicago recently turned the waters of |
Lake Michigan mp the Chicago river
into the Mississippi valley, she re-es- /
tahI.hed the old stale of affairs, |
which, If the motion in question con- |
tiuurs, will be mere q ifiicUlt To main /
tain in the future than il is now. For /
tuu uei' this motion is very slow. |
aud only q very remote pOsferity. !
some thousands Of years IcuCc, viii 1
meet with the dilIicu Ties We now /
for. zoe, w hen the bed OF the ChiclgO |!
liver b-cowes 10 er sud lower at its
junction with Like Michigan.
IL appears, that tls State Of New
Jersey is -iHkinc, Sd this is even /
uar icinsfed m 10y tie city of New
York. B-Gok'vn. LOrg Island. &c, at
rHp r4,e OF sUue sixteen or seventeen
nc G. per century. This Is insignifi-
can't. 10 De sure hut let it only 90 on
roT p thousand ye7rs and it IS some
Grteu feet. 50 thGt the new stone
locks now co Hmencsd iD New y NOrk
city at that time val! bo totally sub
merged bui tier t.ry viii probably |
not lest 50 long, ard The soil Of the
'oweg part of jhe city may be very
ra-iiy raised halt a foot eV5Tv thirty
wears. It Is evident taats sUe most
co rect date may hr obtained aJ The
sea-shOrc, as the main hrigl E Of lLe
ocean possesses perfect stability.
tHis m1ju heights, 0i course obtain
ed b. continual oAseTv tiuus. and if
Hny where the highest tides reach a
higher level than 'Hey Cld one
hundred or TWO hundred years ago, /
iti is proof Of depression or sinking
of tas isud.
This depression IS going On along
the coast Of Lor.ham France. Belgi-
MN, Holland and uoftL-west Germa-
uv. white the coast of Sweden. along |
the Baltic is slowly Using. including
rhc capital OF Sweden, the city OF
-i-uc', 1-risz..
Ile latest scientific iourua's report /
two very srrieirg contemporary up- /
aaav6's IN Spain, entirely authentic.
NJ. de BD'7Ilo describes them in de-
tail and tie most curious fact is that
rho short time Of scarcely quarter
ol century was sufficient TO produce !
tp effect which has surprised every
iuhl5iJant who observed lie circun-
stances formerly, and compared them /
with the present condition. In tie
province of JamUra, Il Is observed
D. hat from tie village Of Fiilar don
Diego, il is nov possible 10 see the
Hppfr bali Of the church 5 eeple ef
L uifl'Z s. in the province OF Nallad-
odiid; whereas, twelty-three wears
ago, the summit OF this steepie could
only just he perceived. The same
hing occurs 10 the same degree and
uIcGr JHe same circumstances in the
ProviUce ot Alava. where, from the
yiiiag7 of Stlyatierra. the whole of
the village Of 5 .liueuie can now be
seen. ~ hile in 1911 the vaue OF the
church s-seple could barely be per-
c,iycd These four points are
'H q line parallel TO the -F stem Of the
Suserrois MUuHtlius. while the ex
Ueme points are one hundred anG
tCT'y miles aaart
ali the movements we speak of
here have uotiirg 70 DO with vol
rauic 5r' uptious; tacy ere. of course,
caused by changed conditions Of the
interior oi the ssrtb's mass, which hv
bese facts is proved not to DC solid,
the opinion or some modern gcolOg-
Isis uO5wijhs auding; the ctrih. II
uoi liquid inside, must a. least be
s1't aud plastic, in order 60 make de-
pressicus in one place with sinul- :
tgreous elevations in another.
Ole other Interesting facs we must
mention in this c'urectiOn; It Is that
The highest IgCHa.aiBs aFe not the ,
oils.i. ss oue would naturally sup
pose, bat belong 20 the tens last
elevated SO the high Swiss Alps are
much yorngrr than tie lower Jura. /
and the Ch-kiiis Younger than the
lower ShIwaaguuE monutaius.-Ihelt t
Hama JdCtGEeT diIts BUUdeT.