REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I917 \2J 



as " St Germain bay," toward Lake Clear Junction (Saranac Junction 

 on the map). The deepest spot in Lake Clear is the spot where the 

 two fault lines cross. 



To the west of Lake Clear the faults can only here and there be 

 definitely located. A cliff in the dense woods a little south of the 

 lowest extremity of Upper St Regis lake establishes one. The 

 faults about Mountain pond to the north have already been 

 mentioned. 



In Long lake to the south there is a most striking example of a 

 very long and straight fault line valley. 1 



Topography 



The topography of the earth's surface is the product of two groups 

 of great forces; one constructive and the other destructive, alternating 

 throughout countless ages. The elevation and sinking of the land 

 with the consequent erosion and sedimentation has resulted in a 

 scarred and weatner-b eaten surface full of meaning for those who 

 can read the book of the past. 



From time to time the land is raised above sea level by deep- 

 seated forces not clearly understood, but once above this level the 

 forces of erosion are untiringly at work endeavoring to wear down 

 the surface to gently sloping and rolling table lands. The longer 

 these destructive agents act without being interrupted by periods 

 in which constructive agencies have full play, the more completely 

 will their work be accomplished. The streams will eat back into 

 the highlands, forming ever- widening valleys, slowly but surely 

 base-leveling the country. The arrangement and resistance of the 

 rocks should also be included among the factors upon which the 

 changing topography of an area must depend. 



Whenever new oscillation occurs, changing the relative elevation 

 of the land and the sea, the whole plan of erosion is altered and the 

 stream drainage is modified. The detritus carried by the rivers 

 and brooks into standing water adds its load to the growing accumu- 

 lation of sedimentary deposits. As material is removed from one 

 locality and deposited in another, shifting the load, the balance is 

 continuously upset, so resulting in more oscillations. Thus the 

 strand line of the sea marks the division between the activities of 

 these antagonistic earth forces; sedimentation on the one hand and 

 the wear of rivers, rains and frost on the other. 



1 Consult the government topographic maps of the Long Lake and the Blue 

 Mountain quadrangles. 



