Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-15
VAST VOLCANIC CHAIN
LINKED COASTS OF IT. 9
Geologic Proof That In Prehistoric
Times America Seethed With Active
Craters from the Atlantic to thu
Pacific.

Craters from the Atlantic to ,b.
Pacific.
That the completion Of the Panama c.r.,
should be sisnalised by the bursting for.b ~
volcano-the only live one r. the rrn,,..
States-was as startling as II was unexnoo,.a
says M. G. Frederick, in the Boston Transorin,
To those familiar with the geology of N.
Pacific coast, however, the manifestation occ.-
slons no surprise.
1t is strange story geolosists tell w =,
the California coast-that ages ago II, n,oun-
tain peaks, nero reefs In O great expan,. a,
sea, rose to such a height that Santa Barbsr.
Channel was vast valley, over which Doubt
less roamed the elephant, camel lion, sabsr.
toothed tiger and other animals whose fos,n
remains are scattered over the country ana
some OF which are found on the islands Then
the land again sank beneath the sea and again
arose. and marine fossils are found In abup-
dance along the shore and on the mounts,n
tops many miles from sea- Imagine the au,
prise Of the old gold hunters to find N.
skeleton of a whale at an elevation Of a thou.
sand feet and two hundred miles inland.
And ages ago, we have seen, the land ala,
had Its baptism of fire. Radating from nIddl.
California In separate streams, scientists ts,,
u.s. the lava flowing north became flood.
burying the smaller inequalities and encirclIng
the larger until 1t covered the greater portion
OF northern California, northwestern Nevada.
nearly all Of Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
and reached far into Montana and British
Columbia Arizona and New Mexico were also
involved. The Columbia River cuts through
lava three or four thousand feet thick, and In
cut In the Deschutes River thirty successive
sheets of lava may be counted.
Rut was nnar1y thoniaanda Of voor. -.
being at its height in the Miocene period.
Since then activity in tho United States has
gradually diminished until It practically ceased
within the last few centuries, with occasional
belated manifestations, at present.
Even in historic times there has evidently
been marked dmnution of such phenomena
on our Western coast Spanish explorers
expressed the belief that there were volcanoes
in the coast range Of Southern California. This
may not have been entirely Imaginative an
is generally supposed. In the desert east Of
Daggett lava beds and craters have been
reported of recent a formation that some
believe them to be not more than 200 years old
For some time after the settlement Of Santa
Barbara there volcano" on the sea-
shore, either the genuine article or burning
petroleum. At the time Of the earthquakes Of
1912 volcano was reported back of Pine
Mountain
An old geography of 1916 calmly remarks that
California is wild and almost unknown land.
In the interior are volcanoes and vast
plains of shifting SHOWS. which sometimes
shoot columns to great height. This would
seem near incredible were It not for the well
authenticated accounts of travellers
The entire region of Yellowstone Park,
Wyoming in remarkable volcanic activity
at a comparatively late geological period, and
the lingering phenomena still produced consti-
tutes the most remarkable series of natural
wonders Of any equal area of the globe. There
is also small geyser region, Of a hundred
two boiling geysers, with their accompaniment
of sulphur salts and alkalis, in the mountains
of central California.
In time, no doubt, the Pacific coast will
become as settled as the Atlantic side, which
in early geological times, are told, appar-
entity had outbursts n grander scale than
anything known In historic times, for example.
the enormous floods of lavas which with tufas
and sandstones form the copper-bearing series
of Lake Superior, which have a thickness Of
thousands of feet
The coast of Maine, the region of Boston, tho
Connecticut Valley, the Palisade of the Hud-
son. through Pennsylvania, and elsewhere
show traces of ancient volcanic action. and
the same may be said OF many countries OF
Europe whore volcanic life is extinct
Alaska, Mexico and South America still show
more or less volcanic activity, but In all the
known world there is but one Stromboli. In tho
Mediterranean. which has been constantly
dischargng lava for more than two thousand
years