Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-09-15
VAST VOLCANIC CHAIN
LINKED COASTS OFF {
Geologic Proof That In Prehis,o,i,
Times America Seethed With Ac,ir.
Craters from the Atlantic to ~
Pacific.

Oraters from the Atlantic to tbo
Pacific.
That the completion of the Panama O..
should be signalized by the bursting to,,S
volcano-the only live one in the t-n,,s.
States-was as startling as It was uneYro..S.
says M. c. Frederick in the Boston Transo,,s,
To those familiar with the geology ., ,v-
Pacific coast however, the manifestations o.sI
sions surprise.
IL Is a strange story geologlsts tell a..
the California coast-that ages ago its roo.S
tain peaks, mere reefs in a great exnor,o :,
sea, rose to such height that Santa Rorh.s'
Channel was vast valley, over which don,,
less roamed the elephant camel, lion. soh.s
toothed tiger and other animals whose fo,.,
remains are scattered over the countrv 49,,
some OF which are found on the lslands rhss
the land again sank beneath the sea and ss.,.
arose, and marine fossils are found in oh,
dance along the shore and on the rou,,.,
tops many miles from sea. Imagine the sr
prise OF the old gold hunters to find ~
skeleton of a whale at elevation OF n tbo,
sand feet and two hundred miles inland
And ages ago. as we have seen, the land o,,
had Its baptism OF fire. Radlatng from nidA,
California in separate streams. scientists ,on
us, the lava flowing north became n eoo,
burying the smaller inequalities and encircir
the larger, until 1t covered the greater por,ior
Of northern California, northwestern Nevad,
nearly all of oregon Washington and Idabo
and reached far into Montana and BrtI,h
Columbia. Arizona and New Mexico were aso
involved. The Columbia River cuts through
lava three or four thousand feet thick and in
a cut in the Deschutes River thirty successy.
sheets OF lava may be counted.
But that many thousands OF years apo
being at It's height In the Miocene period
Since then activity in the United States hs,
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 dminution of such phenomen.
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 as
Is generally supposed. In the desert east Of
Daggett lava beds and craters have been
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
1912 new volcano was reported back of Pine
Mountain.
An old geography of 1915 calmly remarks that
California is a 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 1t not for the well
authenticated accounts of travellers"
The entire region of Yellowstone PARK,
Wyoming. was in remarkable volcanic activity
at n comparatively late geological period. and
the lingering phenomena still produced constl
tutes tho most remarkable series of natural
wonders of any equal area of the globe There
is also a small reyscr region, of hundred or
two boiling Gcyscrs. with their accompaniment
of sulphur, salts and alkalIs in tho mountains
of central California
In time, no doubt. the Pacific coast will
become as settled as the Atlantic side, which
In carly geological times. we are told, appar
entity had outbursts on n grander scale than
anything known in historic times, for example
tho enormous floods of lavas which with tufa'
and sandstoncs form the copper-bearing series
of Lake Superior. which have thickness Of
thousands of feet
The coast Of Maine tho region of Boston, the
Connecticut Valley. tho Pnlsadc Of the Hud'
son. through Pennsylvania, and elsewhere
show traces Of ancient volcanic action and
tho same may be said of many countries OF
Europe where volcanic life Is now extinct
Alaska. Mexico and South America still show
more or less volcanic activity but in all hs
known world there is but one Stromboli' IN he
Mediterranean. which has been constantly
discharglng lava for more than two thousand
years.