ALGOUS PEAT 279 



the slush In the lake water was piled up on the leeward side of the lake in small 

 ridges. 



At the north end of this lake the algous deposit is very sparse except for 

 short distances, within 2 feet, of the ice margins, where in places it is fairly common. 

 The maximum width of the algous belt is at the north-east corner of the lake, where 

 it is about 12 paces wide ; this decreases to 6 paces in width at the noi'th-west 

 corner, where three distinct ridges are to be detected raised sharply 1, 2, or 3 inches 

 high respectively at 3, 4, and oh paces outwards from the lake margin. These small 



10 



10 



Layers of ice separated from one 

 1 another by layers of bubbles. 



I Ice divided into eleven laminai 

 I by sheets of bubbles. 



Ice strongly fibrous and pris- 

 matic, with numerous vertical 

 bubble holes. The bottom ice 

 for 6 inches in depth is 

 yellow: 



T'eet Inches 



i_U 



"12 

 10 



10 



:a yO"9 



9 Peaty fungus and ice mixed. 



(-Alternating laminas of fungus- 

 , , peat and ice passing Jown- 



j wards into 4 inches of gritty 

 I peat. 



„ n I Pebbles of kenyte lava with 

 I algse, cemented by ice. 



FiG. 65. Section through deposit of Algous Peat, Coast Lake, Cape Eoyds 



ridges perhaps represent the level of the surface of the lake at different periods. 

 At the same time they are in part due to the piling up action of the small waves 

 of the lake during blizzards. In places the algas are sufficiently abundant to form 

 a species of algous peat. The only lake where this was observed to be the case 

 was Coast Lake. The general character of this and the layers of ice with which 

 it is associated is shown on the accompanying section. 



Another section was compiled from the evidence obtained by three trenches 

 and two bores in Coast Lake. These have shown the presence of a stratified organic 

 deposit, ranging in thickness from 2 feet (60 centimetres) in the centre of the lake 



