﻿^°1* 
  53-] 
  GLACIAL 
  DEPOSITS 
  OF 
  THE 
  VARANGER 
  FIORD. 
  151 
  

  

  as 
  would 
  result 
  from 
  the 
  grinding 
  down 
  of 
  any 
  rocks 
  near 
  which 
  it 
  

   lies. 
  In 
  the 
  apparent 
  absence 
  of 
  stratification 
  it 
  resembles 
  such 
  a 
  

   deposit 
  as 
  the 
  Scrobicularia-Cl&y 
  of 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  English 
  coast, 
  

   which 
  frequently 
  breaks 
  more 
  readily 
  along 
  vertical 
  shrinkage- 
  

   cracks 
  than 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  directions, 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  its 
  perfect 
  

   homogeneity. 
  The 
  strongest 
  argument 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  the 
  glacial 
  

   origin 
  of 
  the 
  blue 
  clay 
  lies 
  in 
  its 
  containing 
  scratched 
  stones 
  ; 
  but 
  

   the 
  explanation 
  of 
  their 
  presence 
  is 
  suggested 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   stones 
  are 
  being 
  strewn 
  over 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  similar 
  mud 
  now 
  

   forming 
  in 
  the 
  bottoms 
  of 
  the 
  fiords, 
  brought 
  there, 
  I 
  presume, 
  by 
  

   the 
  ice 
  which 
  forms 
  annually 
  in 
  the 
  shallower 
  waters. 
  In 
  con- 
  

   nexion 
  with 
  this 
  it 
  is 
  worth 
  noting 
  that 
  such 
  a 
  process 
  of 
  distri- 
  

   bution 
  takes 
  place 
  occasionally 
  even 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  ; 
  the 
  mud-flats 
  

   of 
  the 
  estuary 
  of 
  the 
  Cheshire 
  Dee 
  have 
  been 
  known 
  after 
  hard 
  

   frosts 
  to 
  be 
  dotted 
  over 
  for 
  some 
  miles 
  with 
  erratics 
  of 
  slag 
  from 
  

   the 
  Flintshire 
  iron-works. 
  Avoiding, 
  on 
  these 
  accounts, 
  the 
  use 
  

   of 
  the 
  terms 
  Till 
  and 
  Boulder 
  Clay, 
  I 
  adopted 
  the 
  name 
  ' 
  fiord- 
  

   mud,' 
  but 
  the 
  expression 
  ' 
  glacio-marine 
  ' 
  used 
  by 
  Col. 
  Feilden 
  is 
  

   perhaps 
  equally 
  suitable, 
  so 
  long 
  as 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  lead 
  to 
  the 
  con- 
  

   founding 
  of 
  the 
  deposit 
  with 
  formations 
  of 
  true 
  glacial 
  age. 
  In 
  the 
  

   three 
  localities 
  I 
  have 
  referred 
  to, 
  namely 
  the 
  Yaranger 
  Fiord, 
  

   Bodo, 
  and 
  Tromso, 
  I 
  consider 
  the 
  deposit 
  to 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  raised 
  

   beaches, 
  and 
  to 
  differ 
  in 
  no 
  marked 
  degree 
  from 
  the 
  material 
  now 
  

   accumulating 
  in 
  the 
  neighbouring 
  fiords. 
  

  

  Glacial 
  Deposits. 
  

  

  To 
  distinguish 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  glacial 
  age 
  from 
  the 
  raised 
  beaches 
  

   was 
  seldom 
  easy, 
  for 
  not 
  only 
  does 
  the 
  fiord-mud 
  simulate 
  Boulder 
  

   Clay, 
  but 
  the 
  sand 
  and 
  shingle 
  of 
  the 
  beaches 
  might 
  well 
  pass 
  for 
  

   esker-gravel. 
  At 
  first 
  I 
  was 
  disposed 
  to 
  so 
  class 
  these 
  gravels, 
  

   believing 
  that 
  their 
  terraced 
  outline 
  alone 
  was 
  attributable 
  to 
  

   rearrangement 
  by 
  waves. 
  1 
  But 
  after 
  seeing 
  some 
  examples 
  of 
  

   Glacial 
  Drift, 
  above 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  highest 
  beach, 
  I 
  came 
  to 
  the 
  

   conclusion 
  that, 
  though 
  the 
  material 
  of 
  the 
  beach 
  had 
  often 
  been 
  

   derived 
  from 
  Glacial 
  Gravels, 
  yet 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  completely 
  redis- 
  

   tributed, 
  and 
  could 
  no 
  longer 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  earlier 
  

   series. 
  

  

  Glacial 
  Drift 
  was 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  so 
  typically 
  developed 
  as 
  in 
  this 
  

   country. 
  I 
  saw 
  two 
  examples, 
  however, 
  near 
  Vadso, 
  which 
  seemed 
  

   to 
  be 
  characteristic. 
  In 
  the 
  one 
  case 
  mounds 
  and 
  ridges, 
  enclosing 
  

   water-logged 
  hollows, 
  extended 
  from 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  the 
  highest 
  beach 
  

   along 
  the 
  little 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Thomaselv. 
  This 
  hummocky 
  strip 
  was 
  

   terminated 
  abruptly 
  by 
  the 
  smooth 
  and 
  level 
  terrace 
  of 
  the 
  beach, 
  

   and 
  had 
  evidently 
  yielded 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  

   composed. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  mounds 
  were 
  overspread 
  by, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  

  

  1 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  explanation 
  of 
  a 
  moraine 
  with 
  a 
  perfectly 
  level 
  top 
  which 
  

   dams 
  up 
  a 
  lake 
  at 
  Hammerfest. 
  Dr. 
  Reusch 
  supposes 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  

   moraine 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  levelled 
  by 
  the 
  waves, 
  ' 
  Geology 
  of 
  Northern 
  Norway,' 
  

   p. 
  101 
  & 
  fig. 
  The 
  dam, 
  consequently, 
  has 
  the 
  composition 
  of 
  a 
  moraine, 
  but 
  

   the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  beach. 
  

  

  