INTRODUCTORY : ORIGIN OF FIORDS. 19 



admitted by all glacialists, from a region of lalces into one totally destitute 

 of them, the underlying rocks having changed their character, while the 

 proofs of the former presence of ice remain the same. 



Illustrations of the occurrence of lakes of various origin on the Pacific 

 Coast will be given in describing the glacial features and surface geology of 

 that region. Intimately related to the topic just discussed is the subject 

 of the formation of fiords, to which in this connection a few pages may be 

 devoted. 



It will appear evident, from what has been said in the gravel volume in 

 regard to the depth and number of the canons on the west slope of the Sierra, 

 that if the land were submerged or the sea-level raised a few hundred feet, 

 not only would the Sacramento and San Joaquin Vallej' be covered with 

 water, but the coast-line on the eastern side of this large inland sea Avould 

 have an extremely irregular outline, being deeply indented in many places, 

 these indentations having very precipitous sides, and offering in every 

 respect a striking analogy with the so-called fiords of the Scandinavian 

 Peninsula. Looking along the present coast of the Pacific side of North 

 America, we find a line remarkably free from indentations until we reach 

 the vicinity of Vancouver Island, when we come suddenly upon a region of 

 deep inlets and numerous outlying islands of large and small size, very in- 

 completely represented, however, on our ordinary maps. Good harbors are 

 as abundant in this region as they are few and f;ir between to the south. 

 Turning our attention to other parts of the world, we find the same remark- 

 able difference between the coast-lines of different rey-ions. Sonth America 

 strikes us at once as being extremely deficient in indentations affording 

 good harbors, from its northern extremity almost to its southern. Africa 

 wants them almost entirely in every portion of its outline. This peculiar 

 frequency of fiords or deep indentations of the coast has been the subject 

 of considerable discussion; yet, as there are difficulties in regard to their 

 origin and mode of occurrence which have not been removed, it will per- 

 haps be worth while to endeavor to throw some additional light on the 

 subject. 



The mere recapitulation of the regions of fiords and deeply indented coasts 

 will show at once that they are almost exclusively confined to high latitudes, 

 both northern and southern. That they ai'e much more extensively devel- 

 oped north of the equator than south, is very naturally accounted for by the 

 fact that there is so little land in high latitudes in the southern hemisphere. 



