The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-11-29
AGE OF THE EARTH,
+ FASCINATING STUDY THAT IS FILL
C!DATING A GREAT MYSTERY,

Tia" Science "f Geology shows That tie
Age OF the World Varies Between 73.-
100000 and $50. o Years-How
These Computations Are Made.
AT IL" recent meeting Of the British
Association Il discourse was delivered hy
the ""sldent. Sir Archibald Gerkie. on
one 81 tie most interesting problems in
modern sc1@nce-the age of the world.
over century has elapsed since James
Hutton wrote his Theory Of the EARTH
which was the irstsattempt to formulate
2 chronology Of creation in accordance
with the discoveries Of science; since
then knowledge has made vast strides.
ana his followers have access to a mass
u information which he did not possess.
PIayfair and Kelvin improved upon his
work. and now Gerkie and the school to
Which be belongs have gone beyond
tl.tlu.
biologists have ascertained that the
rate ut which erosion takes place can be
measured; 10y applying their scale to the
s~odlmentary rocks they have formed a
hypothesis as TO the time which has
elapsed since erosion began. To put the
proposition III similar language, the sur
face Of the globe is constantly wearing
away unlerthe influence of water and
Wind. The portions which are worn off
are carried down to the sea or into hOl-
lows, where they are deposited and form
5"dIucntary rocks. If we can ascertain
how long it takes to form O. sedimentary
rock we can figure ont when the progress
II wearing away ana redepOsiting began.
SIT Archibald states that on a reason
able computation the stratitied rocks at,
tain an average thickness of 100, 900 feet
The material Of which they consist was
al washed down from high planes, de
posted and left to stratify. By the in
apectiOn Of river banks it is found that
! III places the surface of the land which
has been carried down as sediment il
rivers has been reduced at the rate Of q
foot in 730 years, while i'll other places,
where the land was more stubborn OF
less flexible, it has taken $500 years to
lower the surface me foot. The deposit
must be equal to the denudatiOn. Thus
! we find that while some of the sedimcn-
tarv rocks have grown a foot in TOO
years others have taken $500 years to
rise that height. Thus the period {.
time that was required to build up 10O.-
600 feet Of s~edimentary rock has varied
according to locality from $4,000, 900
| years to $50, 600, 900 years. 1t follows
that the active work of creation lasted
for ii cycle intermediate between these
two figures. The cycle varied with end
less succession Of periods of disturbance
by volcanic force and glacial action.
and the frequent submersiOn Of dry
land, alternating with the emerging of
continents out Of the seas. These may
have retarded the growth Of sedimen-
tary rocks, but they cannot have accel-
| Grated it.
A study Of fossils teaches the steady
uniformity with which the work of
| creation proceeded. Since man began
to observe there has been no change in
| the fUrlus of animal and vegetable life
a few species have disappeared-not one
| new species has been evolved. Not only
| do we find the fauna and flora of ancient
| Egypt as depicted on monuments which
are probably 5000 or 10000 years old
| Identical with those which are found III
| i!l6N N'Ni1tI iC'id b't SIINIlo lin Ii
| habited our seas before the ice age and
grew in an ocean whose bed Overlay the
| Rocky mountains are precisely the anne
/ species that are found in the Bay of
| Monterey and the waters of the Chesa-
peake. 1t j. evident that there has been
no essential change III the conditions Of
life since these animals and these vege-
,aL!ns were first created, vet how vast
the shortest period which we can assign
10 the gap that divides rs from that re-
mote epoch.
Little by little the geoloGist is lifting
the veil which covers the prehistoric
record Of eur planet. The era which
preceded the : Of civilized man, with
its vast rivers carrying down diluvial
food, to til ocean, and the bursting
forth IF mountain ranges from cOntraC-
Sious0f the earth'sCrust has been painted
% the life. But no one has exercised his
pencil Oh that preceding age, when the
forests made way for clumps of stunted
birch and willow, in~cessant snOwfalls
covered the plains. glaciers Crept down
from the north, and gradually a vast
sheet Of ice half a mile thick drove man
| ni'tl. W Illl bllt IIldiiiLIIOlLA tIIl'A AN INl1
deer. to those fortunate regions which.
like California. escaped the agony of the
last ice age.
Nor have we any distinct perception
u that subsequent age when the ice
melted or rtceded to the pole, or dense
tropical jungle grew up in the increases
ii had left, swamps steaming with trOp.
;cal heat swarmed with uncouth ba,
traclian and reptile life, trees of mon.
~trous growth shed their shade over
shiny pools and black ooze, and in the
distance long mountain ranges whose
~foHtanel had not yet closed, poured 4
never ceasing food Of lava down their
sides. This is a page of history which
IS vet to be written, but the material;
are accommodating, and the historian vii
not be long wanting.-San Francisco
Call.
Sweet Simplicity.