Evening star., 1952-11-05
Original Crust on Earth
Believed in Buffin Lund
Stretch Of jagged Peaks Held
Largely UnexpIorobIe
By Thomos R. Henry

The loftiest mountain range Of eastern
in the world is an unnamed stretch Of
jagged peaks which extends along the
northeastern coast of Baf1n Land,
largest of the American Arctic islands
except for Greenland.
These are unnamed mountains, largely
unexplored except by air and probably
uneXplorable. Their rocks, for the most
part, are more than five hundred million
years old. They were formed before the
earliest living things which have been
preserved as fossils appeared on earth.
The range, whose peaks rise to alti-
tudes Of 1900 feet in places. constitutes
some of the most spectacular scenery in
eastern North America. according to q
description Of the Canadian Arctic just
issued by the Department of Mines and
Technical Surveys at Ottawa. The lofty
peaks and serrated ridges are partly
buried under permanent snowfields and
ice caps. Long. twisting glaciers I'LL
many valleys. discharging into the sea
at several places and drifting slowly
icebergs. The whole coast with its in
dentations and fiords rises abruptly
from the water. presenting barrier Of
rugged grandeur facing Greenland across
Davis Strait.
Lancaster Sound Splits Range.
The range is cut in two by Lancaster
Sound. the remarkable water channel
which cuts the Arctic islands into
northern and southern halves. It breaks
out again on Bylot Island where its
peaks jut through an interior ice cap,
and appears again in northern Ellesmere
Land. within 500 miles of the North
Pole. The ElleSmere mountains are
divided into two ranges, the United
States and British Empire ranges. In
both Of these peaks reach attitudes of
more than 5000 feet. Fiords extend
many miles inland.
The northernmost mountains in the
world also may contain the oldest rocks in
the world. They presumably are thrust
up extension of the great Canadian
shield" which covers most of northern
Quebec, Manitoba and the Ungava PEN
insula. This consists of rocks which
may have been formed as part of the
original crust of the earth. Rocks as
old as 1.8 billion years have been
dated to the extent of uranium dis
integration into lead. They were laid
down at least billion years before there
could have been the slightest trace Of
plant or animal life on the planet.
The Arctic mountains eventually may
prove a treasure chest for geologiSts delv-
ing into the pre-life story of the planet
but at present offer an extremely for
midable field for explorers. This is
especially true from the east. where the
range rises almost like an abrupt wall
from the sea. The range is less spectacle
lar from the west, where it slopes gradu.
ally down to q barren, rocky plateau.
Barren, Rocky Ceast.
Far less spectacular, according to the
Canadian report, is southern Bafin Land
whose barren, rocky coast rises only to
an altitude Of about 1000 feet. A belt Of
numerous small islands, the submerged
peaks of rocky hills similar to those Of
the Canadian mainland, front the CEN
tral part Of the south coast. Most of the
interior is a rough, barren plateau that
averages 1000 to 5000 feet in elevation.
The upland slopes north and west to
q broad, poorly drained tundra plain.
There are lake-dotted, swampy low
lands which supply forage for herds Of
caribou. The cold, barren upland Of
northwestern Bafin Land have very
few caribou and are Stunned by the
Eskimo. Coastal ravines and interior
rivers permit some travel across the PEN
insulas. Some of the inlets are lined by
vertical walls Of ancient rock, rising to
attitudes of 1000 feet. -.e
The vegetation Of all this region con-
sists primarily of MOSES and nchens, but
there are exceptions Even the lowland
valley of the northernmost Ellesmere
Land have sufficient vegetation to sup.
port small herds of musk oxen.