( 535 ) 



debris of the glacier fVoin the Ardennes; 8'^'. The nieltiiig process 

 commenced soon after reaching its Southern limit. It was only dnring 

 its receding course that the Baltic ice-stream remained for some time 

 stationary, and in this period of inaction was formed the front 

 moraine extending from the South coast of the Zuiderzee to Grebbe 

 and further as shown by J. Lorié '), over Nimeguen to Crefeld. 

 The glacierformations, at present situated South of the Riiine, were 

 afterwards, i. e., during the inter-glacial period, exposed to the turbulent 

 waters of the Meuse, which, as has been stated above, rose 200 M. 

 above tlie level of the sea, at least between Namur and Dinant, — 

 proof of which is afforded by the high terrace. Although this terrace 

 slopes down towards the North, near Nimeguen, it still reaches a 

 height of between 50 and 100 M. -|- A. P. '). Owing to (his action 

 of the Meuse, the erratics found in North-Brabant and Limburg are 

 generally smaller and more polished than those of the diluvial depo- 

 sits North of the Rhine. And lastly, a great portion of the glacier 

 formation has got hidden from view by the large alluvial tract of 

 the Rhine delta, which has been formed after the bi-each of this 

 river at Nimeguen and subsequent alterations of the level by dis- 

 locations. 



Anyhow, it is entirely out of the question to admit that in the 

 beginning of the quarternary period the Meuse had its outlet into the 

 sea, a little North of Maastricht and formed thei-e an estuary, — 

 a theory put forwards by M. Mourlon ') and A. Rutot *). As J. Lorié 

 justly observes, not a single indication exists of the sea having 

 extended so far inland. 



1) J. Lorié. Le Rhin et le glacier scandinave quaternaire. Bull. Soc. beige de 

 Geologie XVI. 1902. Mém. p. 129-153. N. VIII. 



') 1. c. p. 131. The high terrace of the valley of the Meuse is generally 

 considered of pliocene formation, but the presence of Scandinavian erratics in 

 places situated farther North, e. g. Mook, Nimeguen, etc., proves that it must have 

 been formed after tiie receding of the Baltic ice-stream. 



3) Les mers quaternaires en Belgique. Bull. Acad. roy. de Belgique (3) XXXII. 

 Bruxelles 1896 p. 671 — 711. La faune marine du quaternaire moséen revelée par 

 les sondages de Strybeek (Meerle) et de Wortel, prés de Hoogstraeten en Gam- 

 pine. 1. c. (3) XXXIIL 1897, p. 77Ö— 782. 



■*) Les origines du quaternaire de la Belgique. Bull. Soc. beige de Geologie. XI. 

 Bruxelles 1897, p. 117. 



"■) De hoogvenen en de gedaantewisseling der Maas in Noord-Brabant en Limburg. 

 Verhandel. K. Akad. van W. Tweede Sectie III. No. 7. Amsterdam 1894, p. 10. 



