﻿T. 
  BELT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STEPPES 
  OP 
  SIBEKIA. 
  497 
  

  

  been 
  a 
  great 
  submergence 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  in 
  the 
  Glacial 
  period 
  might 
  

   be 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  theory 
  that 
  ice 
  coming 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  had 
  

   dammed 
  up 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  Lawrence, 
  and 
  changed 
  it 
  into 
  a 
  

   great 
  freshwater 
  lake. 
  I 
  also 
  showed 
  that 
  stratified 
  beds 
  of 
  sand 
  

   and 
  gravel, 
  without 
  marine 
  shells, 
  might 
  have 
  been, 
  and 
  probably 
  

   were, 
  formed 
  by 
  ice 
  flowing 
  down 
  the 
  principal 
  valleys 
  and 
  causing 
  

   glacial 
  lakes 
  in 
  the 
  lateral 
  ones, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  sands 
  and 
  gravels 
  

   were 
  deposited. 
  I 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time 
  urged 
  that 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  

   marine 
  remains 
  in 
  these 
  deposits 
  should 
  make 
  us 
  pause 
  before 
  we 
  

   come 
  to 
  the 
  conclusion 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  formed 
  by 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  I 
  certainly 
  neither 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  nor 
  until 
  my 
  visit 
  to 
  Siberia 
  had 
  

   any 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  theory 
  was 
  of 
  such 
  wide 
  application 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  

   seen 
  that 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  now 
  advanced 
  is 
  only 
  an 
  extension 
  of 
  the 
  

   earlier 
  theory, 
  and 
  that 
  I 
  was 
  prepared 
  to 
  accept 
  it 
  more 
  readily 
  than 
  

   I 
  might 
  otherwise 
  have 
  done. 
  

  

  The 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  blocking 
  up 
  by 
  ice 
  of 
  the 
  drainage 
  of 
  countries 
  

   in 
  the 
  Glacial 
  period, 
  and 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  large 
  and 
  small 
  lakes, 
  will, 
  

   I 
  believe, 
  explain 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  many 
  stratified 
  deposits 
  that 
  are 
  

   supposed 
  to 
  prove 
  the 
  great 
  submergence 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  below 
  the 
  

   waters 
  of 
  the 
  ocean. 
  Thus, 
  if 
  the 
  ice 
  once 
  filled 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  

   German 
  Ocean 
  and 
  the 
  Irish 
  Sea, 
  all 
  our 
  rivers 
  running 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  

   and 
  to 
  the 
  east 
  must 
  have 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  been 
  dammed 
  back 
  by 
  it. 
  

   Similarly 
  every 
  lateral 
  valley 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  England 
  and 
  in 
  Scot- 
  

   land 
  was 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  or 
  another 
  occupied 
  by 
  a 
  glacial 
  lake; 
  and 
  

   thus, 
  I 
  believe, 
  the 
  stratified 
  sands, 
  often 
  false-bedded, 
  that 
  lie 
  above 
  

   the 
  Boulder-clay 
  were 
  formed. 
  In 
  many 
  cases 
  the 
  barrier-ice 
  seems 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  suddenly 
  removed 
  or 
  broken 
  through, 
  and 
  the 
  escaping 
  

   rush 
  of 
  water 
  has 
  cut 
  down 
  through 
  the 
  sands 
  and 
  left 
  them 
  in 
  long 
  

   ridges 
  or 
  isolated 
  mounds. 
  

  

  Again, 
  the 
  ice 
  that 
  descended 
  from 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  Scandinavia 
  

   must 
  have 
  dammed 
  back 
  all 
  the 
  rivers 
  of 
  Northern 
  Europe 
  ; 
  and 
  

   I 
  think 
  that 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  Central 
  Europe 
  must 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  

   have 
  been 
  occupied 
  by 
  great 
  freshwater 
  lakes 
  over 
  which 
  floated 
  

   icebergs. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  with 
  some 
  diffidence 
  that 
  I 
  put 
  forward 
  these 
  views, 
  as 
  I 
  

   know 
  they 
  are 
  opposed 
  to 
  those 
  held 
  by 
  most 
  geologists 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  am 
  

   sure 
  they 
  will 
  credit 
  me 
  with 
  a 
  desire 
  to 
  arrive 
  at 
  a 
  true 
  explanation, 
  

   and 
  admit 
  that 
  the 
  arguments 
  I 
  have 
  advanced 
  show, 
  at 
  least, 
  that 
  

   the 
  grounds 
  on 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  held 
  that 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  northern 
  

   hemisphere 
  was 
  depressed 
  below 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  ocean 
  in 
  the 
  Glacial 
  

   period 
  require 
  reconsideration. 
  

  

  Discussion. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Deew 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  deposits 
  had 
  a 
  lacustrine 
  aspect. 
  

   Their 
  nearest 
  parallel 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  great 
  plain 
  of 
  India, 
  

   the 
  origin 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  not 
  quite 
  clear, 
  although 
  it 
  had 
  perhaps 
  

   originated 
  as 
  a 
  delta. 
  He 
  did 
  not 
  think 
  that 
  the 
  ground 
  had 
  been 
  

   covered 
  by 
  an 
  ice-cap. 
  

  

  