BY A. N. LEWIS, M.C., LL.B. 3^ 



deposit seems reasonable. There are indications of a young 

 cirque on the south-western corner of the summit of Mt. 

 Mueller, and glacial action would be expected here at an 

 elevation of 3,000 feet at least. Probably ice more resem- 

 bling an ice cap than a glacier radiated across the spurs and 

 adjacent plains of Mt. Mueller. Mt. Weld and the Snowy 

 Mountains have the altitude and the area to provide neves 

 for glaciers. From information given by some prospectors 

 there is a markod glacial shelf on the eastern side of Mt. 

 Weld on which repose some mountain tarns, and on the 

 Snowy Mountains there are several lakes, one at least of 

 considerable size. 



(b) Glacial Epochs in Tasmania. 



In the Northern hemisphere it is definitely established 

 that, during Pleistocene times, the ice sheets descended four 

 times over considerable portions of the continents of Europe, 

 Asia, and .America. These glacial invasions are known in 

 Switzerland respectively as the Gunz, Mindel, Riss, and 

 Wiirm ice ages, and are separated by inter-glacial periods 

 of temperate climate. If conditions were similar for both 

 hemispheres — as is the present theory — and if the tempera- 

 ture was sufficiently cold during each of these periods to 

 cause glacial conditions as far north as Tasmania we should 

 find signs of four corresponding invasions amongst our 

 glacial remains. 



Recently the Director of the Geological Survey, Mr. 

 Loftus Hills, made the important discovery of the track of 

 a very old glacier in the Pieman Valley. He has told the 

 writer that glacial pavements formerly considered to belong 

 to the Permo-Carboniferous glaciation were really caused by 

 ice during the Pleistocene, but at a date far anterior to the 

 more obvious signs of glaciation on the West Coast range. 

 His opinion was confirmed by Sir T. W. Edgeworth David 

 after a visit in March last year. Later, Mr. Hills has 

 informed the writer that he found signs of two distinct 

 glaciations in the vicinity of Lake Augusta at the head of 

 the Ouse, where one moraine appears superimposed on 

 another, with a peaty deposit from an intervening inter- 

 glacial period between the two glacial deposits. Observa- 

 tions collected in the National Park indicate the existence 

 of three ice invasions (Lewis, 1921). This idea has now 

 been strengthened by additional data collected around Mt. 

 Anne and the kindly confirmation given by Professor Sir T. 

 W, Edgeworth David, our universal friend and helper. 



