40 A. S. PACKARD, Jr., ON THE GLACIAL PHENOMENA 



to the summit of the mountain, in striking opposition to the sudden ascent from the oppo- 

 site side. L l 



The deposits of gravel uniformly spread over the temperate zone, capping the clays and 

 lying unconformably upon them, are, I conceive, derived from the upper part of the original 

 moraine matter, and it is not necessary to explain its presence by introducing a new°and 

 more recent glacial period. Thus a continuity can be traced between the gravel deposits 

 as they occur unconformably to the clays beneath, and as they occur in the White Moun- 

 tains in an unwashed, undisturbed state, where they form a part of the original glacial mo- 

 raine matter, differing only in having less mud in its mass and more gravel, and in lying at the 

 top of the mass. This is the natural arrangement of moraine matter as described by writers 

 on glaciers, who state that the mud is formed at the bottom of glaciers, while the gravel 

 transported blocks, and detrital matter are hurled down by avalanches upon the back or 

 upper surface of the glacier. The sea, as it gradually encroaches upon the terminal mo- 

 raine of the retreating glacier, would naturally seize and throw down on its bottom the 

 finer mud of the lower part of the moraine mass, and the heavier gravel and trains of 

 boulders would retain their position throughout the entire process of denudation It is 

 thus that the gravels, sands, and trains of boulders are always uppermost in the series 



The great point of interest in connection with a glacial theory, is to learn whether the 

 White Mountains, and larger mountains of Maine, were centres of glacial action like the 

 mountains of Switzerland, Scandinavia, Greenland, and the Himalaya Mountains in the pres 

 ent day, and the Highlands of the British Isles, of New Zealand, and the Rocky Mountains 

 formerly. It would naturally be supposed that at the close of the glacial period, there would 

 be left about this group of Alpine heights small glaciers descending the valleys. 



Since this paper was presented for publication, additional observations made in the 

 White Mountain Valleys, watered by the Androscoggin and the tributaries of the Saco 

 afford proofs that local glaciers radiated from the central peaks as in the Alps and inoun' 

 tains of Norway. At Jackson, N. H, on Thorn Mountain, which lies just south of Tin 

 Mountain, there are some well-marked glacial scratches running N. 25° W and which 

 point directly towards Mount Washington, which stands at the head of the valley of the 

 Ellis River. On the same mountain and hills lying below, are boulders of mica slate con- 

 ainmg numerous crystals of staurotide, beds of which occur only near the summit of 

 Mount Washington, from which they must have been transported. 



The summit of Mount Kearsarge, 3400 feet high, is rounded by ice. Dr C T Jackson 

 m his" Report on the Geology of New Hampshire," states that half way up the mountain 

 the drift scratches run N. 30° W., being about the same course as on Thorn Mountain He 

 also states that on Mount Chicorua the striaB run N. 35° W. (S. 35° E.), which is the o- e n 

 eral course of the Ossipee Valley southeast of this peak. " ° 



Or, a hill just east of Goodrich's Falls, on the Ellis River, are very distinct ice-marks on 

 polished surfaces, with stria* running N. 30° W., and lunoid furrows with the opening of the 

 crescent pointing up the valley in the same general direction as the orooves 



Crossing over the mountains into Chatham, N. H and Stowe, Maine, into the valley of 

 the Cold River, another tributary of the Saco, we find another set of striae running in quite 

 a different direction. On Speckled Mountain, which lies just east of Mount Royce the 

 grooves and lunoid furrows point N. 15° E, following the course of the valley at this place 

 and aiming, so to speak, at a higher peak to the North and East. 



On Mount Baldface, 3600 feet high, three or four miles southwest of Speckled Mountain, 



