Evening star., 1940-04-26
By THOMAS r. HENRY.


About the year 1892 began a new
ice age that reached its peak in the
first half of the 18th century.
Now it is in a process of very
rapid recession, according to evil
dence presented to the American
Geophysical Union today by DR.. F.
E. Matthes of the Geological Survey,
head of the unions Committee on
Glaciers.
1t has been supposed hitherto that
the last ice age ended approximately
10000 years ago with the close of
the pleistocene geological era in
North America and Europe. During
the past year, Dr. Matthes said, evi-
dence has been accumulating from
all over the Northern Hemisphere
of zig-zag movement of the ice.
This confirms data gathered by Dr.
Matthes himself last year on ad-
vances and recessions of the glaciers
of the Rocky and Sierra Nevada
Mountains.
One of the most striking bits of
evidence, he says, comes from the
report of Canadian geologist on
the delta of the Bear River which
empties into a ford almost on the
boundary line between British Co.
lumbia and Alaska. It has been de-
termined that this delta is made up
entirely of glacier carried debris
and that it is less than 1000 years
old. This means that previous to
1000 years ago there were no glaciers
at the headwaters of the Baer and
that they returned following warm
interval after the pleistocene.
Evidence from Iceland.
Other striking evidence comes
from Iceland, where geologists have
determined that new glaciers came
into existence about the beginning OF
the 18th century. New glaciers, DR.
Matthes found, appeared on the
western mountain tops less than
1000 years ago, when the areas be-
low the mountains already were in
habited. They receded and ad-
vanced again about the time of the
discovery of America.
Somewhere around 1890, DR..
Matthes said, the present reces-
sion started, but it proceeded at a
snalls pace, so gradually that it
escaped the attention of geologists
until the early 1920s. Then the great
retreat started which has been gain
ing momentum ever since. The last
winter, in spite of the extreme
cold in most parts of the country,
saw an accelerated continuation of
this recession.
Meanwhile, DR.. Matthes said, an
international committee of scientists
has been organized to study the
mechanics of glaciers, and mountain
laboratories have been established in
the Alps and on Mount Rainier.
Already striking differences have
been found between the structure of
glacial ice and ordinary ice. The
latter is loose aggregate of ice
crystals. The latter is transparent
rock" with large, interlocking crys-
tails. A glacier, DR.. Matthes said
acts like a very viscous liquid and
obeys the laws of liquid mechanics.
Weather and Earthquakes.
A definite relation between earth
quakes and the weather was sug-
gested to the Geophysical Union by
DR.. H. Landsberg of the University
of Pennsylvania. A statistical study
he said, shows a strong tendency OF
earthquakes with focuses. deep in the
earth to occur in spring and fall
These are seasons when great masses
of air are shifted across the equator
to the neighborhood of the poles.
1t is highly possible, DR.. Lands
berg said, that this extra weight
on the poles may be just sufficient to
throw the earth slightly of balance
resulting in a very slight change in
the position of the poles. This
would be SUFFICIENT to cause very
great disturbances in the earth's
interior.
A new type of ultracentrafuge, q
large metal cylinder which spins
with enormous velocity in a vacuum
chamber without visible means OF
support, is being used at the Uni
versity of Virginia In the study OF
new chemicals and the preparation
Of vaccines to fight disease. Dr.. j
w. Beams Of the Virginia faculty