﻿OF 
  THE 
  VALLEY 
  OF 
  THE 
  EHINE. 
  

  

  87 
  

  

  that 
  in 
  modern 
  times 
  the 
  Rhine 
  has 
  often 
  changed 
  its 
  channel, 
  winding 
  

   hither 
  and 
  thither 
  all 
  across 
  the 
  plain 
  between 
  the 
  Schwarzwald 
  and 
  

   the 
  Vosges, 
  and 
  leaving 
  terraces 
  sometimes 
  remote 
  from 
  its 
  present 
  

   banks. 
  As 
  it 
  acted 
  then 
  and 
  is 
  doing 
  now, 
  so 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  acted 
  

   in 
  the 
  post-Miocene 
  times 
  recorded 
  in 
  this 
  memoir, 
  till 
  at 
  length 
  

  

  Fig. 
  2. 
  — 
  Map 
  showing 
  the 
  Distribution 
  of 
  Miocene 
  strata 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  

   Pre-Miocene 
  Alps, 
  in 
  the 
  area 
  now 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  Shine 
  between 
  

   Basel 
  and 
  Mainz. 
  

  

  A 
  A. 
  Miocene 
  strata. 
  B, 
  C, 
  D. 
  Pre-Miocene 
  mountains 
  (Schwarzwald, 
  Vosges, 
  

   &c), 
  bordering 
  Miocene 
  waters. 
  E. 
  Pre-Miocene 
  Alps, 
  bordering 
  Mio- 
  

   cene 
  waters. 
  

   (The 
  arrow 
  indicates 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  drainage 
  in 
  part 
  of 
  what 
  is 
  now 
  the 
  

   Rhine 
  valley.) 
  

  

  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  plain 
  of 
  Miocene 
  strata 
  was 
  worn 
  away 
  ; 
  

   and 
  the 
  tabular 
  uplands 
  near 
  Basel 
  and 
  Mainz 
  now 
  bordering 
  the 
  

   modern 
  plain 
  remain 
  to 
  attest 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  denudation 
  that 
  the 
  

   valley 
  has 
  suffered 
  by 
  watery 
  erosion. 
  

  

  This 
  hypothesis 
  readily 
  accords 
  with 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  stratified 
  

   banks 
  of 
  gravel 
  at 
  various 
  levels 
  above 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  modern 
  

   river-terraces 
  which 
  are 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  plain. 
  If 
  also 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  

   Loess 
  be 
  only 
  river-mud 
  of 
  a 
  comparatively 
  ancient 
  date, 
  and 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  partly 
  of 
  glacier 
  origin, 
  this 
  view 
  helps 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  its 
  

  

  