Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1914-05-23
BIRTH OF A RIVER
As Land Shrank Bed of St. Law
renee Was Formed.
Required Ages of stranins, Cracking
and Shrinking of the Earth, To-
qether With Earthquakes, Sun
and Frost to Form Channel.

Try TO THINK OF uht WITCH LILO
earth was covered by mass OF water
hot, steaming and often tremendously
disturbed by the throes OF a globe De
meath it that was shrinking because
it was becoming cooler, says the
Youths Companion. AS the globe
shrank. every particle of the outside .
was naturally pulled in toward the .
center and the hardening crust, when .
could not be packed any more solldly F.
than it was, had to wrinkle, sinking
down here and bullying up somewhere
else. After a time certain OF these
rising wrinkles, or folds. the thicker
or firmer, parts of the earth crust
stood the strain and became per1ila-
nent ridges. The oldest of them that
biologists know, and apparently the
first that bulged up above the unlver-
sal ocean and remained high ana dry
was the broad mass on which Cahaua
now rests 1t is part or the original
crust of the earth. and we can see II
today. wherever it is not covered Oy
newer rocks or soil. just as 1t crystal
lied and cooled out of the prlmeVal
molten material.
This mass formed a broad ' from
Labrador down to Lake Huron, ana
thence northwestward to Alaska on
account of it's shape geologists call II
the Canadian shield. 1t is the Oldest
land known and apparently the strong
est. for there are no signs of any ex-
, tensive changes in it Except the wear
: ing away Of the surfaced since 1t nrst
rolled the ocean off its shoulders.
: of the eastern coast of this prlmi-
p tive continent lay a chain OF lorty
+ islands. about on the line of the Blue
. Ridge, the White mountains, the Maine
. coast and Nova Scotia. Between these
n islands and the mainland was trough
q like space that ran from western que
!, bee southwestward to ONO. IL wan
y two or three hundred miles wlue ant
p filed with a shallow sea, and just out
!, side the island chain was the grea
-. hollow that held the Atlantic ocean
, Time went on. For ages the strain
/, ing and cracking Of the Shrinking
T. globe. earthquakes, sun and tros'
" pounding surf. running water. biowih
"a gales, etc.-all labored to tear dow
% the mountains and carry the wreckae
wv of rocks and dust away into the va
Of leys and seas. In this way Vas
20 masses of rock, in layers OF shale
10. sandstones and what not, we're lai
IN. down in that narrow, troughllke sc
,v between the chain of Islands and u
"a continent. All these "sedlmentars
ar rocks were soft and weak, as COZ
mr. nared with the solid old GRANTEES dee
IA ly rooted on either side OF them, al
ba the trough itself, a sasging fold, VIZ
bo a line of weakness in the crust AS u
,,s load of deposits became heavier al
~ heavier. the floor of this trough slow
IN. Welded and as 1t sank toward
>, heated region below the under sl
mo melted and grew thinner and thinner
90 This could not go on forever, al
ou soon the continual shrinking OF I
n globe and the enormous pressure
the the weight Of the ocean became II
90 s,stihle The Canadian shield was !
oil movable. SO the rock in the trough
nm. gan to bulge or crumple all along
nm. length. Gradually. not all at once
for nv slow and varying movements. tho
NOT folds were squeezed up. wnicn IN III
oct broken and worn down forms we kn
lists as the Appalachian mountains.
Won Toward the south there was TO
A. for this action to be rather gentle
&C. raonlar hut in the far northeast
ool, trough was narrow and the SOFT TO
NOS wore set on edge, overturned
foy sn,intered against the solid contlnt
rcd Very early in the struggle great II
, of ture of the earth's crust occurred n
ssas along a curving northeast ana sol
,ora. west line. 1t left a deep and Dr
.nd trench between the crushed and
time nlaced rocks of the trough and
GOV, granite shore Of the Canadian shi
the Into this trench rushed all the Int
inc waters of the continent, draining a
we tn the sea, and the st. Lawrence
Hing WAS born! There, no doubt, II VII
ness main as long as the earth Keeps
lenly present form.
idpe At that time there was no Gui
fash. st Lawrence. The land EXTENDED
r as. tn a coast line that stretched unDr'
stop from Nova ocotia "
were nresent gulf is the result OF a sin
mbed ~ the coast region. Most OF II Is
rived shallow. but a chart OF SOUND
half shows the ancient river bed as c
never mel winding out between
sides land and Cape Breton 10 'ne