The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-07-09
ST. LAWRENCE RIVER is
OLDEST IN The WORLD
FROM the Youth's Companion.

FROM the IOutuS SOIupduAoA.
what IL the oldest river In the worldt
Tfn 81. Lawrence. II Is also one or
the few rivers that did not have 70
make its own bed and has remained
unrhanged since the very beginning OK
the American continent
Try 70 think Of 2 time w " IN t hne
hot steaming, and often tremendously
disturbed by the throes OF globe be-
nshfh II that was shrinking because "
was becoming cooler. As the GLOBE
ahrunlS every particle OF the outside
Was naturally pulled In toWara me
center, the hardening crust, which
could not be packed any more solidly
than IL was had 10 wrinkle, sinking
down here and bullying up somewhere
else After time. certain or these rls-
ing wrinkles. or folds, the thicker, or
firmer parts of the earths crust, stood
the strain, and became permanent
ridges The Oldest Of them that geolo-
gists know, and apparanetly 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 the earth and we can see II today
wherever it is not covered byiSnewer
rocks or soil Just as IL crystalized and
cooled out Of the primitive molten ma
teffal
This mass formed a broad v from
thence noTtheastward TO Alaska; on
account OF it's shape, biologists call IL
the Canadian Shield. lii is the Oldest
land known. and apparently the strong
est. for there are no signs OF any extern
sive changes In II Except the wearing
away of the surface) since IL first rolled
she ocean off its shoulders.
Off the eastern coast Of this prim-
tive continent lay a chain Of lofty is
lands, about on the lire of the Blue
Ridge, the White mountains, the
Maine coast and Nova Scotia. Be
was trough-like space than ran from
eastern Quebec southwestward to
Ohio. 1t was 200 or 800 miles wide, and
filled with a shallow sea; and dust out
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
gales, ice--all labored to tear down the
mountains and carry the wreckage OF
rocks and dust away into the valleys
and seas. In this way vast masses OF
rock inlayers OF shales, sandstones
and what not, were laid down in that
narrow. trough like sea between the
chain OF islands and the continent.
All these 'sedimentary' rocks were
soft and weak as compared with the
either side of them; and the trough It
SELF sagging fold, was a line of weak
ness In the crust. AS the load OF de-
posts became heavier and heavier. the
floor OF this trough slowly yielded. and
as II sank toward the heated region be-
low the underside melted and grew
thinner and thinner.
That could not go on forever, and
soon the continual shrinking OF the
globe and the enormous pressure OF the
weight of the ocean became irresistible.
The Canadian Shield was inmovable,
90 the rock in the trough began TO
bulge or crumple all along its length
Gradually, not all at once, but by slow
and varying movements, those folds
were squeezed up, which In their bro-
ken and worn-down form, we know as
the Appalachian mountains.
Toward the south there was room for
this action to be rather gentle and reg
ular, but In the far northeast the
trough was narrow; and the soft rocks
were set on edge, overturned and splin-
tered against the solid continent Very
early In the struggle great fracture
OF the earth 8 crust occurred here along
q curying northeast and southwest
line. It left deep and broad trench
between the crushed and displaced
rocks OF the trough and the granite
shore OF the Canadian Shield. Into this
trench rushed all the interior waters
n VI 1AAo SOuLAuSHI, uTdiHlnR away 70 Liie
sea, and the st. Lawrence river was
bornl There. no doubt, II win 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 q
coast line that stretched unbroken
from Nova Scotia to Labrador. ThS
present gulf Is the result of a sinking
OF the coast region. Most OF It is very
shallow but chart OF soundings
shows the ancient river bed as a chan
mel winding up between Newfoundland
and Cape Breton to the deep ocean.
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