The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-10-11
ORIGIN OF NIAGARA FALLS.
lExchsaee.

iExchsaee.
 Dr. tuiius Pohlman, local geoiogisi al Niagara Falls, gives corresporden, of the Bnfzlo Ce2yiey the fciiosing theory of how the present catarscf came into existcnce. < Tn racing ,he orig ef this river," he said, .swe must go away back into the preglaciA times. ghep Il C. bed of the great lakes wzs occap edsoy river, and fonavaud2 yzl.ey oan.Asae1 s lake fifty miles in length and from tsz to ,eslye miles ia width, wi'h pcssibsA maximum depIh of sixty feet The. northern hasifsr of tIr lske was uf lime s;ore loymz31 E<s1r ahenf ffy feet loxar IT. <he sou. hss.f sre, .he aterfiew of NSskf vas to~ ssd thv C'-.ar,o vInes The outlet found lts wal mo he ptessat vh aanei of the \ .asasa river sssncwh.re ne.9 inc upper rsp p-eis of :.e rivsr above the falls. om here rse wa:eT met % obstacle and in their T " pseat cugalEea the r,ver gorge between ne fails and iae xh.r.pooi, aLd eont.aus1 .n | s,ralga, eoufsc annS;A through the i6e of the whfipook and therce through the valley of s. Dasid's in Canada ard onward through the Ontario yailsy have made careful searches and ind this track of the river from the whiE pool through Canada. B, -an6-oy, ;he Tona~an6a lake began 10 subs,de, and finally was rtdnced to river with d wide, lcw valley on each side. The course oi the river ia fnSkiss its way out of the valley of the ancient lake changed i, flowed into the chan mel of the present Niagara where the Tonawanda river enters TON. IL curved around the southern margin of Grand isiand-whioh formed shallow part of the northern margin of the lake, ard had risen as peninsula n ihe course of time and thea flowed north into the original channel of the outlet, thus determining the t~o branches of the present river Ina; branch of the Niagara river which separates the island from the main land Is ef quite modern origin, as testified to by scundings. Well, the erosion across the thin bed of Niagara limestone natur- aiiy cat one or the other parts of the out le, ceeper than the rest, and conhnirs iLe smaller channels gave birth 10 a number of larger and smaller islands, known at present as Goat, Bath. Luna the Sisters, and ss forth The brAn-hes of the river joined again into one stream as they approached the heav, Niagara limestone at abou; the site of the new suspension or foot bridge. ard rushed north for about IL e. quarters of 3 mile, where they fell over precipice of about ieo feet C., lslani tx e,dei north- cry m ,riangular proiong alton, with is apex somewhere abreast Of .he northern end Of the present Aneris an iall Below this fall of 100 feet, that l have Iu-. spoken of, the rivef descended n rapids over shaie until 1t encountered the Clinton limestone near the railway suspension bridge, where it took another leap From here a short rapid earned 1t 10 the en. tra C. ot the whirlpool, where another fall was caused by qga,,rose sandstone of the Medina group Thence there was arapid current 10 Ontario basin. The volume of water then ~as exceedingly small as compared with the estimated twenty million cubic fec. minute of the present Now, at the time of the glacial period the movement of ;he ice sheet was 10 a nor,heasterly direction. The channel of the great river which re- marked abou. in the beginning was sx- cavated deeply, and the valley of he great lakes was formed. When the Arc tic climate again changed into temper dtC ViS, tu< NC sENC tCdCdtCd uCftu- ward, and in it's melting spread over the land al ,he grouud-up material as ~eil as the rocks which had been oaugh' up and carried under, and the valleys oT s, David's, Tonawanda, and others were more or less completely filled up with drit. The channel O: the old Tona- wanda river from the whirlpool was also included in the illing process After long ages the ice. disappeared and the bed il had occupied became the seat of chain of great lakes At this time lakes Ere and Oatario formed two large bodies of water and were at the same level. that is, their sufaccs were even with Le~istcn Heights. The waters in the lakes began to subside and mud fiat appeared be- tween them, extending from Buffalo 10 Lewiston. An outlet from Lake Esie was formed through this fat, ard se have the presen, Niagara river.