The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-06-06
EARL HISTORY
Of THELAkES
nov TRACED
BY the Federal Geological Sur
vey Reveals Existence OF
Glaciers Years Ago.
...raA.1a -.rrrLreRA,.,

ss,rc1A. TO -esr TELr6HAA,
WASHINGTON, June o.-ESsen 70
one trained IN geology there Is COL
siderable novelty IN the idea SCI lorln l
by scientific men that during the &c.
ice age the northern half OF the NoEtn
American continent was covered with
vast sheets of ice hundredsroT thous-
ands of feet IN thickness One can
&C., rcely blame the country'caan 10
waom a geoIogist was explaining that
the range CT hills adjacent TO has farn
was the terminal moraine OF one on
those ancient glaciers when he sara,
yes they tell me those hills We're
made by ice, but I've lived here n1Sn
onto seventy-fve years. and maven
seen any ice up there.
The study and mapping OF 1ne no.
raines and other deposits Oh lne an
Gent glaciers has for a long time
seen one of the lines of scientific
activity carried on by the United
states Geological Surrey Besides be.
ing matters of geologic and geograpn-,
ic interest, the various -Slac1a! ana
other associated deposits are OF great
importance. particularly to the agr1-
cz1iturfsts in the .northern part OF the
United States. The pulver1zeG ana
mixed rock materials spread as gao.
iaI drift over the uneven surfaces OF
the older rock formations IN tins part.
of the country afford the deep. rIcn
and enduring soils whose yield in
farm products constitutes 50 great a
psrt of the nations wealth The vast
quantities, of clay available for the
manufacture OF brick and drain tile
and the widely distributed depos1ts
OF sand and gravel available for road
metal and concrete and other worE-
ali the results of the great glaciers
are resources of no small value IN
the swamps OF the slaciated area ne,
stored great quantities OF peat AWAIT
ing the time when conditions may re-
quire their use as fuel or fert1lze :E
The marginal parts of many or the
great ice sheets took the-form OF huge
lobes or more or less distinct glac-
iers. It Is not possible to dt6eren-
tate all the Iobes of the earlier stages
of the glacial epoch, but the closing
stages are fairly well defined by great
morainaI loops festooned across the
i northern states. The de1ineatton OF
these rnoraices upon maps makes
clear many interesting and important
relations of surface confguratton and
drainage systems. An important con-
tribution to the science OF glacial
eaoIosy one of a series of similar re-
ports, is Monograph 50 Of the United
States Geological Survey, The Pleis-
tocene OF Indiana and Michigan and
the History of the Great Lakes, by
Frank Leverett and Frank p. Tay-
lor. In this report the authors have
continued the description of the gtac-
iaI deposits and history OF the Great
Lakes region. Their maps show the
relations of the remarkable systems
OF moraines formed by the glacial
lobes which occupied the basins OF
Lake Michigan, Lake huron and Lake
Erie
The history of the Great Lakes has
long attracted the interest OF Seolo-
Gists and geographers. and many pa
pers treating on this subject have
been written. The e1ucidatlon OF this
complicated history has been POSSIBLY
only as the result OF many years Work
in carefully mapping and correlattnS
the ancient shore lines and the as
socfated glacial deposits. In Mono
graph So. all the available data bear
ing on the lake history are brought
together. Some Of the shore lines
are no longer horizontal and their
relations show that at various times
the several basins have been tilted
by elevation or depression OF the land
surface. The effects OF the weight
OF the great ice sheet ard OF other
factors on reformation of the earth'S
crust are also CONSIDERED
This report. Monograph 50. is for
sale by the United States Geological
Survey. at $3.50 copy.