﻿GEOLOGIC 
  KOMANCE 
  OF 
  THE 
  FINGER 
  LAKES 
  ^ 
  

  

  By 
  Prof. 
  Herman 
  L. 
  Faikchild 
  

   University 
  of 
  Rochester 
  

  

  [With 
  G 
  plates] 
  

  

  Superlatives 
  have 
  been 
  exhausted 
  in 
  praising 
  the 
  parallel 
  lakes 
  of 
  

   New 
  York. 
  They 
  deserve 
  the 
  praise. 
  But 
  the 
  beauty 
  of 
  the 
  lakes 
  and 
  

   the 
  charm 
  of 
  their 
  setting 
  are 
  not 
  more 
  deserving 
  than 
  is 
  the 
  

   dramatic 
  story 
  of 
  their 
  making. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  lakes 
  themselves 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  mystery. 
  The 
  water 
  bodies 
  

   merely 
  fill 
  the 
  land 
  depressions 
  to 
  overflowing. 
  The 
  romantic 
  inter- 
  

   est 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  origin 
  and 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  basins 
  which 
  hold 
  the 
  lakes. 
  

  

  A 
  misleading 
  theory 
  in 
  former 
  years, 
  which 
  yet 
  appears 
  in 
  print, 
  

   claimed 
  that 
  the 
  basins 
  Avere 
  scooped 
  out 
  by 
  a 
  plowing 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  

   ice 
  sheet 
  of 
  the 
  glacial 
  period. 
  This 
  explanation, 
  which 
  was 
  even 
  

   applied 
  to 
  the 
  great 
  Ontario 
  Basin, 
  was 
  a 
  popular 
  and 
  easy 
  way 
  of 
  

   avoiding 
  a 
  complex 
  problem 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  physiography. 
  The 
  fact 
  

   that 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  Lake 
  Cayuga 
  is 
  54 
  feet 
  below 
  ocean 
  level, 
  that 
  of 
  

   Seneca 
  174 
  feet, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  Ontario 
  nearly 
  500 
  feet, 
  was 
  the 
  singular 
  

   and 
  puzzling 
  feature. 
  But 
  the 
  Quebec 
  Glacier, 
  which 
  overspread 
  

   New 
  York 
  and 
  New 
  England 
  and 
  which 
  admittedly 
  had 
  some 
  abrad- 
  

   ing 
  effect, 
  was 
  not 
  guilty 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  deepening, 
  although 
  it 
  had 
  

   some 
  part 
  in 
  producing 
  the 
  basins. 
  

  

  The 
  purpose 
  of 
  this 
  writing 
  is 
  to 
  describe 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  the 
  

   Finger 
  Lakes 
  basins, 
  a 
  romance 
  in 
  geology. 
  The 
  physical 
  conditions 
  

   and 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  time 
  are 
  so 
  far 
  beyond 
  human 
  experience 
  that 
  to 
  

   appreciate 
  the 
  facts 
  of 
  the 
  story 
  requires 
  of 
  the 
  reader 
  some 
  mental 
  

   exercise, 
  with 
  constructive 
  imagination. 
  Many 
  people 
  do 
  not 
  like 
  

   facts, 
  if 
  new, 
  but 
  prefer 
  a 
  world 
  of 
  unreality. 
  If 
  the 
  reader 
  happens 
  

   to 
  be 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  class, 
  he 
  would 
  better 
  break 
  away 
  right 
  here. 
  Yet 
  

   the 
  story, 
  like 
  many 
  truths 
  of 
  nature, 
  surpasses 
  any 
  fiction 
  of 
  man's 
  

   invention. 
  

  

  We 
  are 
  so 
  familiar 
  with 
  many 
  lakes, 
  large 
  and 
  small, 
  that 
  they 
  

   seem 
  to 
  be 
  normal 
  and 
  permanent 
  features. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  they 
  

  

  1 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  the 
  Scientific 
  Monthly, 
  August, 
  1926, 
  Vol. 
  XXIII. 
  

  

  289 
  

  

  