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

Craters from the Atlantic to the
Pacific.
That the completion of the Panama co,.,
should be sgnalized by the bursting forth -
volcano-the only live one in the trn,,os
States-was as startling It was unexpeotsa
says NJ. c. Frederick In the Boston Transcr,n,
To those familiar with the geology Of tha
Pacific coast, however, the manifestation occo.
eions no surprise.
1t is q strange story geoogists tell rs n.
the California coast-that ages ago its nooua
tain peaks, reefs in great expanse -,
sea, rose to such height that Santa Barbsr.
Channel a vast valley, over which dopb,
less roamed the elephant, camel, lion, ssb.r.
toothed tiger and other animals whose fossn
remains scattered over the country ana
some Of which are found on the islands Then
the land again sank beneath the sea ~, again
arose. and marine fossils found in tbun.
dance along the shore and on the mountsir
tops many miles from sea. Imagine the SIR
prise of the old gold hunters to find N.
skeleton of whale at an elevation of n tbor.
sand feet and two hundred miles inland
And ages ago, as we have seen, the land also
had Its baptism of fire. Radiating from middle
California in separate streams. scientists tel,
us, the lava flowing north became flood
burying the smaller inequalities and cncirclnr
the larger, until it 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
a cut in the Deschutes River thirty successive
sheets Of lava may be counted.
But that was many thousands Of years ago.
being at its height in the Miocene period
Since then activity In the United States has
gradually diminished until 1t practically ceased
within the last few centuries, with occasional
belated manifestations, as at present.
Even in historic times there has evidently
been marked diminution of such phenomena
on Western coast. Spanish explorers
expressed the belief that there were volcanoes
in the coast range Of Southern California. This
may not have been so entirely imaginative as
is generally supposed. In the desert east Of
Daggett lava beds and craters have beer
reported. of recent formation that SOM,
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
1912 new 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 volcanoes and vast
plains of shifting SHOWS, which sometimes
shoot columns to great height This would
near incredible were 1t not for the well
authenticated accounts of travellers"
The entire region Of Yellowstone Park
Wyoming. was in remarkable volcanic activity
at a comparatively late geological period, and
the lingering phenomena still produced consti-
tutes tho most remarkable series of natural
wonders Of any equal of the globe. There
is also a small geyser region, of hundred or
of sulphur salts and alkalIs, in the mountains
of central California.
In time. no doubt. the Pacific coast will
become settled the Atlantic side, which
in early geological times, we are told appar-
entity had Outbursts grander scale than
anything known in historic times, for example.
the enormous foods 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. tho region of Boston, the
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 where volcanic life is extinct.
Alaska. Mexico aud South America still show
more less volcanic activity but in all the
known world there is but one StromboIi. in the
which has been constantly
dischargnG lava for more than two thousand
years