The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1900-12-11
C0UDERSP0RT ICE MINE.
REMARKABLE SOUVENIR OF THE
GLACIAL ACE IN PENNSYLVANIA.

very conspicuous spot on the map.
but to-day CouderSport is noteworthy.
"Greenland's icy mountains and In
dia's coral strand in juXtaposition.
an ice cave under foot and tropic heat
over head. are Coudersports twin ii
ties TO fame. I'm Northern PennSylva-
MIA. as well as nearly everywhere else
i'm these United States. il was unusu-
ally hot last summer. hut i'm this ham
let, i'm Potter County one had only TO
descend a rude ladder. leading to Il
small cavern under ground 10 find
frost. icicles and December zcphyrs.
Icy stalactiteS ranging from an inch
to three feet i'm thickness hung from
The roof of the C.udcr>port ice mine"
during one of the hottest hot waves
of last August. According TO the
statements OF men of good rcpute i'm
that neighborhood this phenomenon
is visible from May until October
every year but this summer additional
explorations of the Ice mine have re-
Vealcd mwonted wonders
The scientific explanation of the phc-
nomcuou is this: EonS ago Southern
New York. Northern and Northeastern
Pennsylvania We're covered To "a trc-
mendous depth by glacial deposits.
Scientists have dug down ana found
far below the ground, where the
carth'S heat should have increased
materially over the surface tempcra-
turc. streams of icy cold water. The
suhtcrrancan flows were the liquid re
mainder~ of the great glacier which
swept across Canada, 10y way of Lake
Erie, Pennsylvania. New York and
Long Island 10 the Atlantic
In lie Journal of the Franklin I'M
stitutc of Philadelphia. issued in Jan
uary 1883, Professor ~ GOWN, lewis
presented a map showing the bound
airy OF this glacial area in connection
with an exhaustive lecture which ne
delivered before the institute ON
The Great Terminal Morainc Across
Pennsylvania
In the beginning of his monograph
Professor Lewis says
when Agassiz, over forty years ago.
after n prolonged study of the Swiss
glaciers, announced the conclusion that
large portions of the continents OF
covered by an immense glacier thou.
sands of miles in extent and several
thousands Of feet in thickness, gcolo-
gists the world over were startled at
what then seemed an impossible by
pothcsis
To-day there is hardly a truth i'm
geology more widely accepted or capa-
bic of more conclusive proof"
Three phenomena plainly indicate
the progress of tn, great Northern
Drift: % the mantel OF ";iu' Ia de.
post of stones and clay unstratinvJ,, ~ -.
water, which lisa characteristic feature
of the Allegheny plateau. in Potter
County Pennsylvania, ~ the longitu-
dinally scratched powders nowhere
found except in the vicinity of gla-
ciers ana CD the smOothed or Striatcd
rock surfaces, another glacial remind
cr. All these go to prove The correct
ness of Agassiz's hypothesis, for SINH
lar phenomena are found at the foot
of many Swiss glaciers. Just as the
ancient Swiss glacier carried powders
from Mont Blanc TO the Juras. so this
great continental glacier carried them
from Canada across Lake Erie into
Pennsylvania
Just AS the Greenland glacier now
fills the valleys and overtopS the
mountains so this larger glacier ad
vanced over mountain and valley
alike i'm continuous sheet 10 it's final
hating place only sixty miles north
of Philadelphia. At its edge. aus ob-
served in Pennsylvania. this glacier
must have been 500 feet thick a
hundred miles back from itS edge.
among the Catskllls. TO- was at least
BOO feet thick, while 200 miles FUR
Their I'm Northern New England 20
was 5000 feet thick
There are data. says Professor
Lewis which indicate that the glacier
did not finally withdraw from the
United States until MS recently as
10000 TO 1900 years ago Professor
Wright finds from study or glacial
kettle holes iu Massachusetts thut
Che accumulation of pcaty matter in
b. whether caused 10y growth of veg
ctdblc matter or 10y winds and rains
is equal To- level deposit of eight feet
in thickness. st the rate of ono inch
i'm century which i~ probably loss
than the true rate. according 'to I,l.
tcssOr Lewis thIs would place tl.
close of The elJcia. epoch 900 less cham
10000 years ago.
I'm Kansas similar icc c3yeru- co.,
Kettle holes" have been found Iu
One Kansas Journal of March. 1891
MFR i Ritenfp Describes fu Iaf.U fft,....