298 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 947 



developed river channels compels the ex- 

 tension of our estimates of the length of 

 glacial time, and all studies on glacial geol- 

 ogy have the same result. 



If we take 10,000 years as a moderate 

 estimate of the life of Lake Ontario, then 

 we must add an equal, and perhaps much 

 greater, time for the lifting of the basin 

 out of the marine waters. Then we must 

 allow at least another 10,000 years for the 

 duration of Lake Iroquois ; and the 30,000 

 years carries us back only to the time when 

 the ice sheet was removed from the western 

 part of the state. This appears to be but a 

 minor portion of the time covered by the 

 waning of the glacier, judging fi'om the 

 maps and the known history preceding the 

 initiation of Lake Iroquois. 



If we assume 75,000 yeai-s as the time in 

 the waning of the ice sheet, then we seem 

 compelled to add an equal time for the in- 

 vasion of the ice, with some time in addi- 

 tion for the pause at the terminal moraine. 

 Most glacialists will probably agree that 

 150,000 years for the length of the latest or 

 Wisconsin ice epoch is a fair estimate. 

 And back of this we have the earlier and 

 much longer glacial and interglacial 

 epochs. The estimates of those best quali- 

 fied to judge of the length of Pleistocene 

 time are from 500,000 to 1,500,000 years. 



WORK OF THE STATE SURVEY 



The Pleistocene phenomena of the state 

 have been the subject of casual observation 

 and publication for over half a century, 

 and a bibliography would be too large to 

 present here. But the glacial and Pleisto- 

 cene is the youngest member of the geologic 

 branches of study, and only in recent years 

 has the New York State Museum financed 

 the glacial study as a distinct line of field- 

 work and publication. This assistance, 

 however, has been generous and effective, 

 as the numerous papers and handsome 



maps published since 1900, and especially 

 since 1905, will bear witness. The only 

 elaborate and expensive maps and text pub- 

 lished under other auspices than the State 

 Museum is the U. S. Geological Survey 

 Polio 169, already cited above. A descrip- 

 tion of the Moravia quadrangle by Carney 

 was published in 1909 by Denison Univer- 

 sity, with a sketch map in black and white. 



The more important Pleistocene publica- 

 tions of the State Museum are Bulletins 

 48, 83, 84 by Woodworth; 154 by Stoller, 

 and 106, 111, 127, 145 (in part) and 160 

 by Fairchild. Earlier papers by the writer 

 are contained in the 20th Annual Report 

 of the State Geologist, 1902, 21st Report, 

 1903, and the 22d Report, 1904. Previous 

 papers by the writer on the Pleistocene 

 features of the state were published in the 

 Bulletin of this society, beginning in 1895, 

 and in other scientific journals. 



For effective future work it is desirable 

 that some scheme or far-sighted plan 

 .should bring all the glacial studies of the 

 state into harmonious cooperation for the 

 large result. And also that a cartographic 

 scheme should be adopted that will secure 

 maps as uniform in convention and color as 

 possible. 



Two important subjects requiring syste- 

 matic study are the moraines and the drift- 

 buried valleys. The i state should under- 

 take the mapping of the buried valleys. 

 It should employ a well-boring outfit to se- 

 cure data for accurate profiles of the hard- 

 rock surfaces beneath the drift north of the 

 Finger lakes, and wherever the Preglacial 

 valleys of scientific interest are obscured. 

 This would be a unique and popular work 

 for the State Museum. The expense of 

 such exploration would not be large, while 

 the scientific and educational value would 

 be great. 



Another duty of the state is the preserva- 

 tion intact of the Jamesville and Bhie lakes 



