﻿THE 
  ORIGIN 
  OF 
  THE 
  GULF 
  OF 
  ST 
  LAWRENCE 
  1 
  

  

  BY 
  JOHN 
  M. 
  CLARKE 
  

  

  Present-day 
  geography 
  contemplates 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  

   earth 
  and 
  its 
  forms 
  of 
  land 
  and 
  water, 
  but 
  considers 
  also 
  the 
  

   physical 
  and 
  human 
  causes 
  that 
  are 
  modifying 
  it. 
  The 
  geographer 
  

   sees 
  these 
  things 
  and 
  looks 
  forward; 
  the 
  geologist 
  sees 
  present 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  and 
  looks 
  backward 
  for 
  their 
  inception 
  — 
  and 
  then 
  again 
  

   forward 
  in 
  the 
  perspective 
  of 
  cause 
  and 
  effect. 
  It 
  is 
  hard 
  to 
  draw 
  

   the 
  line 
  between 
  these 
  two 
  fields 
  of 
  scientific 
  interest. 
  Some 
  have 
  

   tried 
  to 
  circumscribe 
  each 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  bootless 
  effort. 
  Each 
  trenches 
  

   on 
  the 
  other. 
  At 
  all 
  events 
  every 
  geographer 
  is 
  something 
  of 
  a 
  

   geologist. 
  And 
  this 
  may 
  be 
  my 
  justification 
  in 
  endeavoring 
  here 
  to 
  

   find 
  a 
  clue 
  to 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  a 
  geographic 
  feature 
  of 
  so 
  deep 
  interest 
  

   to 
  us 
  all 
  as 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  St 
  Lawrence. 
  We 
  are 
  very 
  apt 
  to 
  take 
  such 
  

   a 
  geographic 
  fact 
  for 
  granted 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  and 
  to 
  let 
  our 
  geography 
  end 
  

   with 
  a 
  knowledge 
  of 
  its 
  outlines, 
  the 
  contours 
  of 
  its 
  shores 
  and 
  its 
  

   bottoms. 
  To 
  unravel 
  its 
  history 
  and 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  causes 
  which 
  have 
  

   brought 
  it 
  into 
  being 
  is 
  a 
  task 
  that 
  will 
  be 
  fruitless 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  

   facts 
  as 
  they 
  present 
  themselves 
  to 
  the 
  maker 
  of 
  charts. 
  The 
  key 
  

   lies 
  in 
  the 
  geological 
  birth 
  and 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  land 
  mass 
  by 
  

   which 
  such 
  a 
  body 
  of 
  water 
  is 
  embraced. 
  

  

  So 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  real 
  factors 
  in 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  this 
  classical 
  and 
  

   romantic 
  body 
  of 
  water, 
  we 
  shall 
  have 
  to 
  go 
  well 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  early 
  

   events 
  in 
  the 
  making 
  of 
  the 
  land. 
  

  

  Fundamental 
  among 
  these 
  facts 
  is 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  

   mass 
  of 
  crystalline 
  rocks 
  that 
  sweeps 
  from 
  Labrador 
  to 
  the 
  Lauren- 
  

   tides 
  and 
  northwestward 
  to 
  Alaska 
  — 
  ■ 
  the 
  Canadian 
  shield 
  — 
  as 
  a 
  

   continental 
  land 
  mass 
  rising 
  above 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  primitive 
  ocean. 
  

   Its 
  shores 
  were 
  washed 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  sea 
  whose 
  life 
  records 
  have 
  been 
  

   kept 
  for 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  sediments 
  which, 
  now 
  changed 
  to 
  shale, 
  sandstone 
  

   and 
  limestone, 
  bound 
  all 
  its 
  ancient 
  shores. 
  On 
  the 
  south 
  coast 
  

   of 
  this 
  Canadian 
  continent, 
  in 
  the 
  ages 
  of 
  i 
  its 
  independent 
  existence, 
  

   lay, 
  in 
  the 
  longitude 
  of 
  Montreal, 
  a 
  great 
  tongue 
  or 
  peninsula 
  which 
  

   forms 
  the 
  Adirondack 
  mountains 
  of 
  New 
  York; 
  and 
  still 
  farther 
  

   south, 
  perhaps, 
  were 
  long 
  and 
  narrow 
  land 
  masses 
  that 
  kept 
  their 
  

   uncertain 
  heads 
  above 
  water 
  for 
  no 
  great 
  time. 
  About 
  these 
  con- 
  

  

  1 
  Reprinted 
  from 
  Bulletin 
  de 
  la 
  Societe 
  de 
  Geographie 
  de 
  Quebec, 
  v. 
  7. 
  

   January 
  1913. 
  

  

  132 
  

  

  