338 



Sketch of the Geology of 



Peat Beds and Submarine Forests. ' 



On JewelFs Island there exists a bed of peat and a 

 submarine forest. But I did not examine them. At 







( 



to throw a gleam of light on the mpde in which some 



■ 1 ^ 1 



submarine forests itiay have been produced. The barrier 

 that separated the peat swantip from the ocean has been 

 entirely removed; probably by the action of northeast 

 storms; whereby the strata^ for thirty or forty rods in 

 width, have been worn away so as to form the cove 

 which opens to the northeast. During high water, and 

 especially during storms, the water overflows a consider- 



I 



able part of the swamp. When it retires, it carries to- 



and the stumps and roots 



f 



■^, 



'tree^. At 



low water these may be seen' along the ' slightly inclined 

 plane that forms the shore, evidently waiting to be driven 

 by the flux and reflux of the tide ;. and to a greater dis- 

 tance by the latter than the former ; because in that 

 direction the surface is sloping. In the lapse of ages it is , 

 clear that the whole swamp may be removed to a lower 

 level, and all traces of its present level be lost. And its 



new situation 



h like its 



« 4 



one 



ocean 



may not suspect that there has ever been a removal. 

 May not these facts explain the situation of some sub- 

 marine forests ? , ' 



