200 T. C. CHAMBERLlN — GLACIAL STUDIES IN GREENLAND. 



modes of presentation it may become more perfunctory than vital. To 

 whatever practices your collective preferences may at length lead, I trust 

 that between these expressed wishes and the liberties conceded to our 

 youthfulness I shall have your sanction or, at least, your pardon if I 

 occupy your attention with a sketch of personal studies on the glaciation 

 of Greenland made during the past summer. I further hope that if in 

 presentation I invoke the aid of physical illumination to supplement the 

 dimness of my own it will not awaken your displeasure. 



Object of the Studies. 



The purpose of these studies was to find light upon some of the obscure 

 problems of our Pleistocene glaciation. No hope of covering the whole 

 field was entertained. Attention was therefore concentrated upon points 

 thought to be most promising of instruction. 



The foremost questions at the outset were : How does a glacier take up 

 its material ? How does it carry it forward ? How does it put it down ? 

 What functions do water and topography play in the process ? A glacier's 

 methods in respect to lateral and medial moraines, which are superficial, 

 are simple and well known. Its methods respecting basal material, 

 which is largely concealed, constitute the problem. The locus of study 

 was controlled by these questions. The summits of the glaciers were 

 but lightly reconnoitered. Their bases were as closely scrutinized as 

 possible. The snowy heights are indeed alluring, and in the inspiring 

 air of the northern fields one loves to mount, but light on our drift is to 

 be sought in the dirt and drip and shadows of the bottom. The darkest 

 spots are here the fullest of light. 



In the end these leading questions were compelled to yield much of 

 their dominance to others which grew to scarcely less vital importance. 



Distribution of the Studies. 



In a geographic sense, the studies fall into three groups : 



1. A cursory scrutiny of the coast between cape Desolation and Ingle- 

 field gulf, a stretch of above a thousand miles, to note the efi'ects of former 

 glaciation. 



2. A brief inspection of three local glaciers on Disco island, near the 

 Arctic circle, for comparison. 



3. A study of the inland ice, local ice-caps, and fourteen derivative 

 glaciers about Inglefield gulf, between latitudes 77 and 78 degrees. 



Comparison between Glaciation op Mainland and Greenland. 



In a comparison between our former glaciation and the present glacia- 

 tion of Greenland two elements of diff'erence are to be recognized. The 

 first relates to topography, the second to latitude. 



