THE CENTRAL BASIN OF TENNESSEE. 87 



at present existing could have acted in such a manner or had anything 

 like a sufficient amount of power to do the work which has been 

 done. When we consider that the beds belonging to the sub-carbon- 

 iferous extending over an area embracing the greater part of the 

 State of Kentucky, a large portion of the State of Tennessee, and a 

 portion of Northern Alabama have been completely swept away to a 

 depth of 700 feet, and that in addition to this a large tract of this 

 territory was covered by carboniferous rocks which have also dis- 

 ajjpeared leaving nothing but isolated patches here and there along 

 the eastern border of the district, or to make the statement more 

 comprehensible we may put the area of denudation at 28,390 square 

 miles being for 



Kentucky 10,000 Square Miles. 



Tennessee 14,390 



Alabama 4,000 



we are apt to give thought and credence to the belief that all this 

 work must have been performed by some enormous force — something 

 that is altogether abolished from among the forces of nature at the 

 present time — that in those days there must have been forces at work 

 which have long since ceased to operate. It is remarkable how 

 readily we are pi-one to ascribe a supernatural cause or some extra- 

 oidinary and almost miraculous reason for the performance of any 

 work we do not clearly understand. However, in this case there is 

 nothing supernatural, nor yet was there any work in operation or 

 oauses at play during the earlier days of this work than there are in 

 operation at the present day. It has been suggested that the Appala- 

 chians wei'e raised by successive uplifts, and the force of the water 

 rushing through among the mountains caused the formation of the 

 valleys and gorges in various parts of the mountain ranges. If these 

 mountains rose by successive stages, and the streams had already 

 formed their channels and taken up their positions permanently, then 

 no such a tremendous rush of water could take place. That this was 

 so we have plenty of proof in the gorges of the few rivers which have 

 found their way to the Atlantic Ocean. 



If we consider the length of time during which this erosion has 

 been going on and compare the results arrived at with the results of 

 the same cause (erosion) in other parts of the world, we will readily 

 see that it is not in the least necessary for us to call in the aid of any 



