26 



THE MUSEUM. 



even when they end on the land. 

 Most known glaciers slope down to a 

 thin edge at their extremeties. These 

 commonly, not always, end in vertical 

 cliffs of ice lOO to 150 feet high. The 

 sides also are frequently vertical. By 

 reason of this they reveal many fea- 

 tures that are usually concealed. I 

 have never before seen glaciers that 

 presented such admirable facilities for 

 investigation as those of this northern 

 region. The most striking structural 

 feature revealed by those vertical faces 

 is the pronounced stratification of the 

 basal ice. 



Not only is the ice definitely bed- 

 ded, but the rocky and earthy mate- 

 rial which the glaciers carry in their 

 bases is arranged in layers. In some 

 cases the layers are twisted and com- 

 forted, and in others they are shoved 

 over each other. The detailed study 

 of these gives many clews to the mo- 

 dus operandi of the ice action. The 

 rate of movement of the ice generally 

 is very slow. In a few of the more 

 vigorous glaciers, where action is con- 

 centrated and intensified, the move- 

 ment is considerable, but on the aver- 

 age it is probably [quite safe to say 

 that the movement of the ice border 

 is less than a foot a day, probably 

 less than a foot a week. It is certain 

 that the ice once extended some dis- 

 tance beyond its present border, but I 

 think I have good evidence that it 

 never completely overwhelmed the 

 coast region, at least, not in recent 

 times. I am confident that it never 

 extended across Ijaffin's bay and Davis' 

 straits to the mainland and formed 

 the center from which the glaciation 

 of our country was derived, as has 

 been held by some geologists. 



The glaciation of our country must 

 have had a center or centers of its. 

 own. I discovered a small driftless 

 area on the borders of Bowdoin bay, 

 a phenomenon which has a very im- 

 portant bearing upon the former ex- 

 tension or rather non-extension of the 

 • ice. I know of no other region that 

 offers superior or even equal facilities 

 for glacial study. The great variety 

 of 'glacial forms and freedom with 

 which the structure is exposed make 

 it an extraordinarily rich glacial field. 

 The available season is short, the dis- 

 tance great, the obstacles considerable, 

 the dangers something, but to the ear- 

 nest student of glaciation it offers re- 

 wards that fully justify all expense 

 and risk. I would only recommend 

 it, however, to serious investigators, 

 fully aware of its contingences and 

 adequately prepared to meet them. 



The immediate district of Inglefield 

 gulf presents at least four great series 

 of rocks. At the base lies a complex 

 mass of crystalline rock of the granitic, 

 or more strictly, gneissic class, probab- 

 ly of Archaen age. On the peninsula 

 east of Bowdoin bay there are quart- 

 zites that closely resemble those of 

 our Huronian period. Overlooking 

 the crystalline rocks unconformably 

 there is a series of red sandstones prob- 

 ably 1,000 to 1,500 feet thick. On. 

 this lie light grey sandstones, probably 

 1,500 to 2,000 feet thick. Over this 

 again lies a series of thin, brownish 

 sandstones and shales that perhaps 

 reach 2,000 to 2,500 feet in thickness. 

 All these are traversed by dykes of 

 igneous rocks, cutting them in various, 

 directions. 



No fossils have yet been found in any 

 of these rocks and hence their ages. 



