Ixxviii PEOCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Livonia by the usually adopted theory of glaciers or of floating ice- 

 bergs, Count Keyserling calls attention to phenomena recently 

 observed on the shores of the gulf of Pernau as affording a more 

 satisfactory explanation, showing a movement of ice from the sea- 

 level inland and uphill. 



During the first frosts of 1863, a vast field of ice, from 2 to 2| 

 feet thick, had formed itself on the shore, extending far out to sea. 

 The water then rose about 4 feet, owing to the milder weather, 

 covering the field of ice. This was subsequently raised by the water, 

 and formed a free-floating field of ice of enormous extent. A violent 

 storm on the 15th and 16th of January drove this field of ice against 

 the shore, and forced it with great power over the land. Similar 

 occurrences, but on a much smaller scale, had previously taken place ; 

 but now, owing to the much greater thickness of the ice, the event 

 assumed an intensity which had not been observed for several gene- 

 rations ; three peasants' dwellings on the promontory of the Tackerort 

 were so suddenly invaded by the ice and destroyed, that the inhabit- 

 ants lost all their property, and had only time to escape with their 

 lives. The ice here rose 60 feet above the level of the sea ; in other 

 places, where the shore was less steep and only 12 feet above the 

 sea, the ice came upon a fir-wood, broke the stems (some of which 

 were 13 inches in diameter), threw them down, and covered them 

 with an unbroken coat of ice. Wherever the floating field of ice 

 encountered a steep precipice, it rose up like a sheet of paper, its 

 free edge rose over the land, and then, turning over, fell partly into 

 the sea and partly in fragments over the land and was pushed 

 further in. On the flat shore of Heuschlager the ice was driven 

 1023 feet inland, carrying with it a vast quantity of stones ; at the 

 same time, stones were everywhere raised out of the sea by the ice 

 and driven on shore. 



When Count Keyserling himself visited the spot, he found a block 

 of granite, weighing about 60 poods (2160 pounds), lying amongst the 

 blocks of ice, 30 feet above the level of the sea, and which had evi- 

 dently been raised by the ice from the bottom of the sea, thus con- 

 firming the generally received opinions respecting the transport of 

 stones by means of ice. In another spot, where there is a land- 

 cliff 30 feet high, he found a heap of ice-blocks 10 feet thick, which 

 had been generally tilted into an almost vertical position. Their 

 upper surfaces were covered with gravel and stones ; the lower sur- 

 face was pure ice, and had originally formed the upper surface of 

 the field, thus showing that the broken masses of ice had been com- 

 pletely overturned by the violent pressure. 



" If now," adds Count Keyserling, " we could suppose that during 

 the period of the great erratic phenomena the same circumstance 

 took place, but on a larger scale, so that fields of ice of many hun- 

 dred square miles and 4 feet thick were periodically driven over the 

 land, we should have a natural explanation of the scratched sur- 

 faces in parallel lines, and also of the non-marine character of the 

 erratic deposits." He considers that these phenomena show how 

 blocks of stone out of the sea can be pushed by ice into places far 

 beyond the reach of the water, and how deposits may be formed 



