The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1930-07-10
GEOLOGICAL EX.
petition STUDIES
PHYSI0GRAPKY
PROF. NEVIN M. FENNEMAN
DIRECTS RESEARCH IN
THE BEARTOOTHS
DIR. w. T. THOM TO ARRIVE IN
RED LODGE TOMORROW;
RESUMES WORK

The Work of the geological ex-
petition Of Princeton professors
and students and associated geolo-
gists from various universities and
institutions throughout the United
States has this week centered
around a study of the physio-
graphy or land forms of this re-
gion. In this study, Professor
Nevin M. Fenneman of the Uni
versity of Cincinnati, physiogra-
pher of international repute, has
taken leading part.
Professor Fenneman, in addition
to holding the Craftsmanship of the
Department of Geology and Geo
graphy of the University of Cir
cinnati, is also a member of the
United States Geological Survey,
and late chairman of the Divis-
ION of Geology and Geography Of
the National Research Council. To
him is chiefly due the division Of
the United States into typical
forms or photographic provinces,
his outline and map of the physio-
graphic provinces of this country
have been adopted and are used by
the United States Geological sur
vey. Professor Fenneman is also
the author of the article on the
Photography of the United States
in the Encyclopedias Britannica,
and a forthcoming book of his on
the Photography of the Western
United States issnow in press.
According to DR.. Fenneman, Red
Lodge is officially placed in the
Missouri plateau, which belongs to
the Great Plains photographic
province. and the Beartooth Range
IS the Middle Rocky Mountain
province. which begins at Yellow
stone River and funs to central
Wyoming, northwest Colorado and
northeast Utah.
The Beartooth Peneplain
In explaining the origin of the
local topography, DR.. Fenneman
stated that the Beartooth Range,
like the rest of the Rocky noun
tains, was once practically reduc-
ed to a lowland, which biologists
call a penep' ain, so that we DO not
row have the original mountains
remaining. At later geological
period. the entire country was
pushed up or elevated. Due to the
fact that the mountains themselves
consisted of harder rock, and the
region to the east was made up of
less resistant rocks, the present
abrupt slopes of the front of the
Beartooth Range owe their origin
to the differential erosin of the
underlying rocks. By this process,
the softer rocks were cut down to
the comparatively low plains which
now flank the Beartooths, and on
which Red Lodge is situated. The
gradual wearing down Of the land
to the level Of the plains was ac-
complished lily the geological
agents of weathering, namely,
frost, running water, rain, wind,
etc, operating during a long per-
iod Of time.
The character of the topography
Of the Beartooth Range furnishes
evidence that this region was bod
lily uplifted not once but twice. The
high mountains like Granite Peak,
Beartooth and others. are what are
left of still older lowland which
has been narrowed by erosion but
not completely destroyed when the
last mountain lowland was produc-
ed. This latter general level or
peneplain of the Beartooths is
among the finest of it's kind in the
United States. Many people who
see this remarkably flat top do
not stop to think how it got that
way, and it is to be hoped that
this scientific Interpretation of our
scenery will stimulate both inter
est and observation on the part of
those who daily see these wonders
of nature.
The Work of the Glaciers
When the erosional history Of
this region was practically COM
pleted, the glacial period came.
While northeastern United States
and Canada were covered by great
ice sheets, these western mountains
supported individual glaciers like
those which still survive in the
Canadian Rockies and in the Alps.
These glaciers were responsible for
the abrupt gouges in the higher
mountains of this area, and for
part of the depth Of the main val
leys like Rock Creek, Saltwater,
and others. Among the finest ex-
amples Of these valleys, once oc-
cupied by Alpine glaciers, is that
of Rosebud creek, containing Rose
bud lake. Professor Fenneman
took the entire expedition into this
region on last Monday, and deter
mined that at the point where the
stream issues from the mountain,