Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-12-05
AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
GLAcIERs-THEIR FORMATION AND
THEIR MARCH

In high valleys, among the noun
tains whose tops are covered with
perpetual snow, are often found seas
Of ice, called "glaciers.o They are
formed thus: Snow that falls upon
lofty mountains melts very little
even in summer. So in valleys high
up among the mountains II gathers
to a great depth, and, from the
weight Of the snow lying above, the
lower layers become icy, as snow
ball does when squeezed. The upper
crust melts little during the heat
OF the day, and the water sinks
down through the snow. and then
freezes at night. From this melting
and freezing the mass Of snow is
soon changed into sea Of ice.
In travelling down valleys those
ancient glaciers left traces Of their
journey. Over all the places where
the ice seas passed, the rocks are
rounded and highly polished. A
field Of these rounded rocks, when
seen from a distance, lsoks like n
field filed with sheep crouching on
the ground, and the Swiss geolo-
gist- hav called them roches al0,iton-
aees-s'sheep like rocks" In a
valley along the summit Of the
Rocky Mountains, near the "Moun-
I in Of the Holy Cross" there is a
b-autiful display Of these polished,
rounded rocks.
As the glaciers moved down tho
valleys, great rocks, frozen fast in
the ice ON the sides and at the hot
tom, scratched and marked other
rDcks as they assed 10y and over
them. Sometimes these scorIngs
are very broad and deep, for the im-
mense rocks the glaciers carried
were like strong. powerful tools in
the grasp Of a mighty engine. Some
times the lines are as fine as those
of a fine engraving. They usually
run all one way, and, by looking at
the direction In which the lines run,
enc can tell the direction In which
the glacier moved. In the sandstone
west Of New Haven, Connecticut,
the deep, broad scorings can be
plainly seen. running toward the
southeast The height at which
these scratches occur tells us some
thing Of the depth ofthe ice. Mark
Jugs In the White Mountains indi-
cate that the Ice was more than a
nile deep over the region now
known n northern New England.
Wherever the glaciers melted,
they left an immense amount of
drift" that is, sand, gravel, and
stones OF all sorts which had been
faOZen in the ice when the glaciers
were forming The stones Of this
drift are Of all sizes. Some are rs
small as pebbles, Others as large as
small houses. There Is one at Brad
ford, Massachusetts, which measures
thirty feet each way, and weighs
four and a half million pounds.
There Is another on a ledge in Yer
mont which Is even larger than
that, and which must have been
carried by the ice across a valley
lying five hundred feet below
where the stone now is, showing
that the ice was five hundred feet
thick. Great bOwliers Of trap rock
extend through the Connecticut OH
a line running to Long Island
sound, and, as some Of the same
kind are found in Long Island, the
glacier is believed to have crossed
the Sound, carrying these rocks with
IL. An immense statue Of Peter the
Great in st. petersburg, stands on one
II these glacier powders Of solid
granite. which weighs three million
pounds. One Of the larges. bowld,rs
IN America is IN the Indian village
AZ Mohegan, near Montville, Con-
necticut The Indians call the rock
'.Shehegan." Its top, which is fat
and as large as the fioo- OF good
sized room, Is reached by a ladder.
Sometimes these powders are
found perched upon bare lodges of
rock, so nicely balanced that, though
OF great weight, they may be rocked
10y the hand. They are called crock
ing stones" Near the little Con
necticut village Of Noank, on Long
Island Sound, there is an immense
called by the people there
jennings Pulpit" 1t was former
ly rocking Stone, but the rock has
sorn away below il ard it can no
longer be moved.-Teresd G. Crofton,
ia So. Nicholas.