Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1905-03-28
THE PERPETUAL SNOW Zine.
NEVER DOES 1T COME ALL THE
WAY DOWN TO THE SEA.
Mo Ares Of Land in the World Lying
Near the Level of the Ocean That
is Covered in an Everlasting
Blanket of Snow

tucked in under their everlasting
blanket of snow"
We know. however, Of no land area
lying near the sea level that is per-
petually covered with snow, declares
the New York Sun.
Mr.. Peary, the only visitor to the
most northern land yet discovered,
found flowers and grass there, and
killed Arctic game that had fattened
on the heritage of the islands lying
north of the extreme northern coasts
of Greenland. Spitzbergen is one of
the bleakest parts of the world; yet,
during the long summer day, when
the sun is continually above the hori-
Zon, all the winter SHOWS along the
southern valleys melt away UP TO
1900 feet above the sea.
Very little snow can be found in
Iceland in summer, the line of per-
petual snow being about 1000 feet
on the northern and 4,000ffeet on the
southern side of the mountains. Along
the coast of west Greenland the
white mantle of winter disappears in
summer and grass and flowers are
found to height of 1000 feet.
AS for the great Arctic plains of
the northern part of this continent
they are of course entirely free from
snow during the summer months.
Vegetable life thus has a chance in
all parts of the world, unless the ele-
walton is so high above the sea that
winter polar conditions are main
tanned the year round.
There are, of course, lofty eleva-
tons, such as mountains and the ice
cap of Greenland, that are perpetual
ly covered with snow. Geographers
have given much attention to what is
called the snow line, or the line which
marks the limit of perpetual snow.
Its position is chiefly dependent up
on the summer temperature and the
depth of the winter snowfall. The
line along which the sun ceases to
melt the snow is the snow line.
The snow line extends very irreg
ularly along most surfaces because
many mountain valleys, canons and
slopes are shielded from the sun and
so are snow covered the year around
far below the general snow line. This
is not the case, however in tropical
regions where there is little differ
ence in the temperature throughout
the year below the attitudes where
frost always reigns. The result is
that in the tropics the snow line on
the mountains is comparatively
straight line.
of snow approaches nearer to sea
level the farther north or south we go
from the tropics. The snow line on
Mount st. Elias in Alaska is $500
feet above sea level, while farther
south, in the region of the selkirks,
British Columbia, the snow line is
at an elevation of $500 feet.
In the Bernese Alps the limit of
perpetual snow is $500 feet; on
Mount Etna, some hundreds of miles
nearer to the equator, it is 1912 feet;
on Popocatepetl in Mexico it is 49,
700 feet, anG on Aconcagua in Argen-
tina it is 1880 feet. And as We con-
tinue south the snow line sinks again
nearer to the sea level; $500 feet at
Magellan Straits and $500 feet in
TERRA del Fuego-
In the northern hemisphere, where
the southern slopes of the mountains
receive the lions share of the suns
rays, the snow line lies lower on the
northern slopes. Thus the line of
perpetual snow on the northern
slope of Mount Blanc is about 5000
feet, while on the southern slope.
overlooking Italy, it is 10000 feet
above the sea. For this reason the
hamlets of the natives are built
higher on the southern than on the
northern slopes of the Himalayas.
On Mount Kilimanjaro, a little
south of the equator in East Africa,
where the sun is almost vertical over
it, the snow line On the southern and
western sides is $4,000 feet above sea
level, while on the northern and east
ern sides it is over $4,000 feet.
AS ice melts much more slowly
than snow, many glaciers move down
to the sea, while the snow line no
where. reaches the ocean. This is the
case in SpitZbergen, Greenland, at
Mount st. Elias. and, in fact, in near
ly all lands within or quite near the
polar regions. In Iceland no glaciers
descend lower than sixty-fve feet
above the sea.
In the temperate regions glaciers
descend far below the snow line.
Thus the lower limit of glaciers on
Mount Blanc is $500 feet; among the
Canadian Rockies. $500 feet; on
Aconcagua, 1900 feet; and on the
southern island of New Zealand the
glacier ends are only $50 feet above
the sea, while the snow line is $500
feet.
But Just as we see plants strug-
Cling for life in almost every crack
and crevice of the rocks, so the hard
lest specimens of vegetation cling TO
the mountain sides to the very limit
of perpetual snow. Life in many
forms is very tenacious, and is bound
to exist wherever there is the slight
est chance for it.
INSECTS WITH MUSICAL GENIUS.