The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1878-02-06
MISCELLANY.
THE GLACIAL DRIFTS OF sEwJERs Ell.

The well-executed map of this State, an
nexed as frontispiece to this years Geolog-
ical Report, projected on scale Of twenty
five miles to an inch, shows the, sousherly
boundary line and extent of the great glacial
drift, which covered the Northern Henis-
phere at a remote period of the earth's his
tofy--long before the existence of animal life.
This drift extends over every part of our
country above the fortieth parallel OF north
latitude, and is comprised of sand, gravel,
loose and rounded stones and boulders of very
large size, entirely different from til solid
rock underneath. Prof. Smock, Of the SUR
vey, has very clear and carefully written ar
ticle on the general subject as on that part of
the Jersey district covered by the drift, which
he explored last Summer. The following is
based on this information, which are the re-
suits of his labors.
The cause of the phenomenon of this south-
erly drift of gravel, boulders, etc, is general
ly attributed by biologists to the glaciers, i'm
mense masses of leo. so thick that, even in
New-Jersey, they covered the tops Of the
highest mountains. The mass moved slowly
from the north to the south, scraping and
tearing off the earth and rocks from beneath,
grinding, growing and smoothing down the
surface and pushing forward, tumbling and
rounding the fragments of stone and rock,
and finally leaving them at the southern edge
of the glacier or in its breaks.
The terminal or southern edge of the drift
is very plainly marked by line Of hillocks of
mixed clay, sand gravel, rounded stones and
boulders of large size. Beginning on the
eastern side of the State, on the north side of
the Raritan, at Perth Amboy the line OF
Short Hills extending from that place to the
first mountain and passing just north Of Me
tuchen, PIainfeld and Scotch Plains, marks
this southern edge of the drift. The whole
line of this moraine is remarkably plain and
well misunderstanding across New Jersey, not
exactly East or West, but deviating towards
the North-the deviation being greater as the
ground is more eleyated-and extending on
to the Delaware below Belvidere. On the
east it shows very plainly across Staten Island
and on Long Island, extending along the
north side of the latter for forty or fifty miles,
finally changing towards the South, reaches
the South side few miles west of Southern
place. This whole line of glacial drift is $50
miles long, reaching its most southerly point
at Perth Amboy in latitude 40a degrees.
These hillocks of stones, gravel and earth,
which, together make this long chain, have
every appearance of piles of debris, which
have been thrown down without order and
without the presence of water to assert them.
These hilocks are also irregularly scattered
over the country north Of the terminal mo-
raine and the direction of the drift is thus
proved to have been South by finding that
they always come from the fast rocks North
of them, as well as by the southerly directions
of the streaks, scratches and grooves made by
them in the worn rocks underneath. That the
rocks and stones found loose in the DRIFT came
| from the North can be seen from their miner
Al composition and structure. Thus among
the boulders at the Short Hills near Metuch-
en-. can be found masses of granite from the
Highlands. 90 or 80 miles off, etc.
The action of these drift stones, boulders,
etc. in smoothing and growing the tops OF
the mountains and hills also shows the thick
ness of the ice of the glacier The top oil the
Blue Mountain in Sussex and Warren coun-
ties, being from 1900 to 1900 feet high, the