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

Craters from the Atlantic to ,bs
Pacific.
That the completion of the Panama g..
should be signalized by the bursting fo,4h :.
a volcano-the only live one In the I,n,...
states-was as startling as 1t was unexpso,.,
says NJ. C. Frederick, in the Boston Transc,u.
To those familiar with the geology Of ~.
| Pacific coast, however, the manifestation o,a.
! sions no surprise.
| 1t is strange story geologists tell n, =.
the California coast-that ages ago its norS
tain peaks mere reefs in a great expan,s :,
sea, rose to such height that Santa Barh,,.
Channel was vast valley, over which donN,
less roamed the elephant camel, lion. sah..-
toothed tiger and other animals whose fos,,
remains are, scattered over the country Az.
some of which are found on the islands. rh..
the land again sank beneath the sea and ami,
arose, and marine fossils are found in abu.
dance along the shore and the mounts,
tops many miles from sea. Imagine the .r.
prise of the old gold hunters to find ~.
skeleton of whale at an elevation Of a tbo,.
sand feet and two hundred miles inland.
And ages ago, as we have seen, the land ala.
had its baptism Of fire. Radiatins from midd,
California in separate streams. scientists t.u
burying the smaller inequalities and encIrol,r,
the larger. until It covered the greater por,lo.
Of northern California. northwestern Nevsa,
nearly all of oregon, Washington and Id.ho
and reached far into Montana and Br,u,S
Columbia. Arizona and New Mexico were al.o
involved. The Columbia River cuts throu,h
lava three or four thousand feet thick and |,
a cut In the Deschutes River thirty successive.
sheets of lava may be counted.
But that was many thousands Of years aro,
Since then activity in the United States b..
gradually diminished until It practically ceased
within the last few centuries, with occasional
beated manifestations, as at present.
Even in historic times there has evidently.
been marked dimlnution of such phenomsn,
on our Western coast Spanish explorsrsI
expressed the belief that there were volcanoes,
in the coast range of Southern California Tbl,
may not have been entirely Imaginative s.,
is generally supposed In the desert east Of.
Daggett lava beds and craters have bean
reported, of SO recent formation that some
believe them to be not more than 200 years old
For some time after the settlement Of Santa
Barbara there was volcano" on the sea.
shore. either the genuine article or burning
petroleum. At the time of the earthquakes Of
1919 volcano reported back Of Pin,
Mountain
An old geography of 1915 calmly remarks thai
California Is wild and almost unknown land
In the interior 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 comparatively late geological period, and
the lingering phenomena still produced consi.
tutes the most remarkable series Of natural I
wonders of any equal area of the globe. There
is also a small geyser region, Of hundred OF
two boiling geysers. with their accompaniment.
of sulphur, salts and allSalis, in the mountains
Of central California
In time, no doubt, the Pacific coast will
become as settled as the Atlantic sde which
in early geological times. are told. appar
emily had outbursts a grander scale than
anything known In historic times. for example E
the enormous foods of lavas which with tufaS 8
and sandstones form the copper bearing series
Of Lake Superior, which have a thickness Of f
thousands Of feet.
The coast Of Maine, the region of Boston, the
Connecticut Valley, the Palisade of the Hut' :
son, through Pennsylvania. and elsewhere
show traces of ancient volcanic action, and
the same may be said of many countries Of :
Europe where volcanic life is now extinct
Alaska. Mexico and South America still show
more less volcanic activity. but In all the
known world there Is but Strombo In the
Mediterranean. which has been constantly
dlscharglng lava for more than two thousand
years.