The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1901-12-06
VERO hTHG EARTH
- sxTwIH
CONTINUALLY CHANGING.

eeelosicaa Agents That Are Always
Busy In Natures Great Workshops.
Where Man Hal Comparatively Lit
tie lnauence. ;.
The atmosphere plays it's part b geo
lSgaeal optEatiopa Its corrodihs pow
er, backed by rSinsand wind. hslps to
dses1 ann distntegrate those rocks
which are exposed to its influence. Rain
compdetes the work ,thus-besun. swfnd
blows dust, sand and volcanic ashes
: over larges 1hcts of earth--fns fact,
Ssovcrathe wi}oie Oft = y WEE 80
1t Is only Of late years that geolo-
gists have discovered that fine. vol
canic dust is caEried over the. whole, of
the earth's surface AnI piayssas very
inportant PAD ipaths .cseps sea demos
Its. On deserts and nearly rainless re-
( sisps blown sand will ,wear awaysthe
hardest rocks by beating against
them. Some sandstone formationssap-,
s,Rsar t9 have been piled nip ps winds
Winds cause ocean currents, waves
I'D STORMS The: great denuding
= h6Wer Of the sea Is largely due to the
!. atmosphere. Some paTts OF the: Eng
= hsh coasts are being. rapidly washed
20 awayt 'Plahts and animals have their
considerably affected py
winds and ocean currents. Again,
whether living In water or on land,
Fsnbn5els live on the oxygen supplied
from the atmosphere, and land plants
r scbfotb carbonic acid from the same
: source. 80 -s.,''-. -.
r, a Rain acts in two, ways: ROD , chemic-
tsealy$y dissolving certain substances,
such as lime, out Of the rocks, and (2)
mechanically by wearing down their
~ surfaces as It flows over them. Any
old building-a ruined castle or cathe-
Oral for instance-shows "weath-
cred" surface resulting from tho nc
ton of rain and wind. In. sandstone
structures the. details OF carving are
often lost, and on old toinbstones the
t:lttt@tingS car I6ardiy .bSS detiphered.
Springs are due 10 rainwater, collecting
N rocks and rising to the surface.
. Rivers are fed by rains AMI springs.
A river is very powerful geological
.-lReRta. .Ip-.the hardest rocks rivers
gradually carve out n valley or gorge.
This IS accomplished partly by clenlc.,
any dissolSing Certain mineral sub
stances, but chiefly by mechanical
erosion, the stones, sand and mud
wearing AWAY the bed Of a stream as
they ,rll. and tumble over 1t.
The Miest exulnbles, Of river action
ssssshS nnnts scapymS OF Colorado
which ta So9e piace 8 4 te sgor ses bOOO
orS$yens6 600 feet "a deep, " ith yertical
:sss. NV 1 s,sss pohtsa sI1aa out Out
I'M Nnrfo
uon. BY bringing down their burden
OF sediment into lakes estuarics and
seas they bht,li up: great piles of rock
and SOW the dust Of continents to
eiasisss nfe srisafs rs , Of q. Ice ted ~ = the,
"eternai snosvsr OF hkh mopntatn
Sansss. suchs as;tlfe Alps. They Wear
out their own valleys .as rivers do;
they yFSanSport: MUD. :.ka nd anl stones to
great distances. in some cases sending
them scaled up In. .iec1erys toy float far.
QHSta, a& anl .ort iktlting, deposit -thcir
burdens on the sea floor or the coast
oss Seyx0unllapds$ nortIerli lcabergs
'hre depositihg a great mass OF ,"gla.
cial dr4Rr . "a, - az
The sea 10 a great ttauding agent;
but Its work Is more constructive than
destructive. Itis the workshop where
1faHI.9ll, the stratlaed rocks have
heeh acchmulated and ranged in layers
AltFaf8r {he Rivers And ocean cuR
eents9 Con finanliy sbrfog In fresh sup.
plies of Debris even for hundreds or
miles. &y q Ea- go -! ,
Man, compared, with the lower ami.
mails. produces but little effect as n ge-
ologicaf ns6ht.~ Still the human .iace
Extraordinarily. modified the drstrfbu-
tiQn ct plants BIZ enttins aowa forests
and By cpittvatinG certain ;plapts to
supply food: So With ahtma1s. Ger
tain useful species have been csfitfvat-
ed and enormously siffcrea sed 5at' the
expense of6thersswhich prove useless
~ haFihfuf 81 81
Rut-tlabts and animals hare. had,
ana stifl have. far more .inflpence geo
losicaiiy Coaf Nseams are mad np Of
vegetable rsnaips J!of, torners J,erlods.
Forests have an imeortant influence
plant life. 'Ih,the" compdrdtively.un-
knSEn :Yorld Of the ocean matine;
Plants aeubtlsss have imPsFta NJ s4nef
aMarits shinals "a ceoniplIsE fasvast
amoung Or geological. constructive
wdE safeat deposits thousands OF
feeAk@Hek owe their existence to small
calGAEeoAs creatpres Lying I'm the sea.
Coral reefs afford the, most ,falpiliar
i!lnstrati9n 'N ' " -
Ehe farce KNOWN as haat .is Of great.
importance. The earth is hotter below
the surface and probably has very
high Temperature teseaftiz its center.y,
In soms places not very far below Its
surf26h eonsa ains, hIgbly heated rocks.
whi9d kcaslohsDy Aowa, ,oSer the sur
facofg drr3apnr vtxlco r,fc ser,totiopo n