Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1897-05-07
uowrnE CONTINENTS WE'RE ronMrp

HOW THE CONTINENTS WERE FORMED
II molten matter exists beneath the
crust of the earth, it must con tract on
cooling, and in so doing 1t must disturb
the level of the portion of the crust al
ready solidifed. But an i'm portant diff
ference of opinion arose as to the exact
rationale of such changes. Hutton,
and practically every one else who ac.
cepted his theory, had supposed that
there are long periods of relative
repose, during which the level of
the crust is undisturbed, followed by
short periods of active stress, when
continents are thrown up with volcanic
suddenness, as by the throes of gi-
gantic earthquake. But now came
Charles Lyell with his famous exten-
sion of the "uniformitarian" doctrine,
claiming that past changes of the
earth's surface have been like present
changes 10 degree as we'll as in kind.
The making of continents and noun
tains, he said, is going on as rapidly
today us at any time in the past. There
have been no gigantic cataclysmic up
heavals at any time, but all changes
iu level of the strata as II whole have
been gradual by slow oscillation, or
at most ty repeated earthquake shocks
such as are still often experienced.
In support of this very startling con-
tention Lyell gathered Il mass of evi-
ha MT oh 1a1 al
of continental areas. He corroborated
by personal inspection fhe claim which
had been made by Play fair in 1902, and
by von Bach in 1907, that the coast
line of Sweden is rising at the rate of
from few inches to several feet in a
century. He cited Darwin's observa-
tons going to prove that Patagonia is
similarly rising. and Pingels claim
that Greenland is slowly sinking.
Proof as to sudden changes of level of
several feet, over large areas, due to
earthquakes, was brought forward in
abundance Cumulative evidence left
it no longer open to question that sucn
o>cil!atory changes of level, either up
ward or downward, are quite the rule,
aud it could not be denied that these
observed changes if continued long
enough in one direction, would pro
Gucc the highest elevations. The pos
sioi.ity that the making Of even the
highest ranges of mountains had been
accomplished without exaggerated ca
tastrophic action came to ue freely ad-
nntted.
1t became clear that the supposedly
stable land surfaces are in reality luuch
more variable than the surface of the
shifting sea; that continental mas
ses, seemingly so fixed, are really ris-
ing and falling in pillows thousands of
feet in height, ages instead of moments
being consumed iu the sweep between
crest and hollow.
These slow oscillations of land sur
faces being understood, many geologi-
cal enigmas were made clear-such as
the alienation OF marine and fresh
water formations in ID vertical series,
which Cuyer and Brongniart had OBJ.
served near Paris; or the sandwiching
of layers Of coal, of subaeral forma-
tion, between layers of subaqueous
clay or sandstone, which may be OBJ
served everywhere in the coal meas
ures. In particular, the extreme thick
ness of the sedimentary strata as
whole, many times exceeding the depth
of the deepest known sea, was for the
first time eXplicable when it was un.
derstood that such strata had formed
in slowly sinking ocean beds.
All doubt as TO the mode of origin of
stratifed rocks being thus removed
the way was opened for IL more favor
able consideration of that other Hut
tonian doctrine of the extremely slow
denudation of land surfaces. The
enormous amount OF land erosion will
be patent to any one who uses his eyes
intelligently in mountain district.
1t will be evident in any region where
the strata are tilted--as, for example,
the Alleghanies-tha great folds of
strata which must once haye risen
miles in height have in many cases
been worn entirely away, so that now
a valley marks the location of the
former eminence. Where the strata
are level, as in the case of the noun
tains of Sicily, the Scotch Highlands,
and the familiar Catskills, the evidence
of denudation is, if possible, even more
marked; for here it is clear that eleva-
tion and valley have been carved by
the elements out of land that rose from
the sea as level plateaus From Geo.
logical Progress of the Century," by
HENRY SMITH WILLIAMS, NJ. D., in Har.
per's Magazine for May.
MARRIAGE LICENSES.
Daniel b. Little and Della Bush, both
of Marietta.