Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1914-07-09
ST. RIVER is
OLDEST IN THE WORLD
rrom the youths Companion.

From the Youths
What Is the oldest river in the world1
the few rivers. that did not have to
make its own bed, n has remained
unchanged since the very beginning OF
the American continent.
Try to think Of q time when the
earth was covered by q mass OF water.
hot steaming, n often
disturbed by the throes Of a globe be-
meath it that was shrinking because 1t
was becoming cooler. As the globe
shrunk. every particle of the outside
was naturally pulled in toward tho
center, the hardening crust, which
could not be packed any more solidly
than it was, had to wrinkle, sinking
! down here, and bullying UP somewhere
else. After time. certain Of these ris-
ing wrinkles, or folds, the thicker, o.
firmer, parts of the earth's crust, stood
the strain, and became permanent
ridges. The Oldest Of them that geolo-
gists know, and apparently the first
that bulged up above the universal
ocean and remained high and dry, was
the broad mass on which Canada now
rests. 1t is a part Of the original crust
of h earth n we can see 1T today,
wherever it is not covered by newer
rocks or soil, just as 1t crystalized and
terial.
This mass formed a broad v from
L~aborador dow to Lake Huron, and
thence northeastward to Alaska; on
account of its shape, biologists call it
the Canadian Shield. 1t is the oldest
land known. m apparently the strong
est, for there are no signs of any extern
sive changes in it Except the wearing
away of the surface) since it first rolled
the ocean off its shoulders.
Off the eastern coast of this prim-
tive continent lay a chain of lofty is
lands ohn,1t ionat tho limo Nf tho p1,o
Ridge, the White mountains, the
Maine coast and Nova Scotia. Be
tween these islands and the mainland
was 4 trough-like space than ran from
eastern Quebec southwestward to
Ohio. 1t was 200 or 300 miles wide, and
side the island chain was the great
hollow that held the Atlantic ocean.
Time went on. For ages the strain
Ing and cracking Of the shrinking
globe, earthquakes. sun and frost
pounding surf, running water, blowing
mountains and carry the wreckage Of
rocks and dust away into the valleys
and seas. In this way vast masses Of
rock. tnlayers Of shales, sandstones
and what not, were laid down in hat
narrow. trough-like sea between the
All these "sedimentary" rocks were
soft and weak as compared with the
solid old GRANTEES deeply sfooted on
either side of them; and the trough it.
Self. a sagging fold, was a line of weak
ness In the crust. AS the load Of de-
posts became heavier n heavier, the
rloor OF this trough slowly yielded, and
as 1t sank toward the heated region be-
low the unders1de melted and grew
thinner and thinner.
That could not go on forever, and
soon the continual shrinking Of the
glope and the enormous pressure Of the
weight Of the cea became Irresistible,
The Canadian Shield was immovable,
so the rock in the trough began to
Dulge or crumple all along its length.
not all at once, but by slow
ana varying movements, those folds
were squeezed up, which in their bro
ken ana Worn-down form, we know as
the Appalachian mountains.
howard the south there was room for
TINS action to be rather gentle and reg
ular, but in the far northeast the
trough was narrow; and the soft rocks
We're set on edge, overturned and splin-
tered against the solid continent. Very
of the earth's crust occufEed here along
q curylng northeast and southwest
line. It left a deep and broad trench
between the crushed and displaced
rocks Of the trough and the granite
shore Of the Canadian Shield. Into this
Ieitcn ruShed all the interior waters
OF the continent, draining away to the
sea, and the st. Lawrence river was
born! There, no doubt, it will remain
as long as the earth keeps its present
form.
At that time there was no gulf of st.
Lawrence. The land extended out to a
coast line that stretched u%nbroken
from Nova Scotia to Labrador. The
present gulf is the result Of q sinking
Of he's coast region. Most Of it is very
SHALLOW, but a chart of soundings
shows the ancient river bed as a chan
mel winding up between Newfoundland
and Cape Breton to the deep ocean.