134 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALBANY MEETING 



chiefly, if not wholly, before the last advance of the continental ice-sheet, and 

 to have been feeble or absent in the closing stage of the last glacial epoch, 

 judging from the lack of definite local moraines and the limitation of local 

 debris to the heads of the cirques. These seeming contradictions in the reports 

 from the two fields do not necessarily mean, however, that either one of us is 

 at fault. It may be that the Catskills. uncovered early in the glacial retreat, 

 received local snowfall and bore local glaciers, while the continental ice-border 

 rested close at hand. It may be. also, that the White Mountains, uncovered 

 later, after the climate had moderated much more, failed to receive the heavy 

 snowfall necessary to support local glaciers. 



Author's reply to Professor Goldthwait : The evidence for the local origin 

 of the ice which produced such moraines as those of Fly Brook seems to me 

 unquestionable. They lie in valleys opening northward and northeastward 

 and are distinctly convex down valley in a direction directly opposed to that 

 of the motion of the continental glacier. It is true that at Fly Brook there is 

 a col at the head of the valley, but this col opens southwestward ; and any 

 glacier which spilled through it northeastward must itself have been of the 

 local or plateau-local type. 



Mr. Martin asked whether it had been possible to study the rock materials 

 in the local moraines to see whether they support the view presented. 



Author's reply to Mr. Martin : The materials of the moraines were examined. 

 They are almost exclusively local Catskill shales and sandstones. The value 

 of the nature of the material as a criterion is not great, however, because of 

 the large area of nearly uniform rocks in the mountains and the fact that, 

 except opposite the northern and eastern passes leading into these mountains, 

 there are surprisingly few foreign erratics anywhere to be found. 



In reply to question raised by Professor Grabau, Professor Rich said : It is 

 impossible to determine with certainty from the content of the till whether 

 moraines in the Catskills are to be ascribed to local glaciers or not. The con- 

 tinental glacier certainly overrode the mountains at its maximum flood and 

 may have left erratics which later would be incorporated with the moraines 

 of truly local glaciers. 



EVIDENCES FOR AND AGAINST THE FORMER EXISTENCE OF LOCAL GLACIERS 

 IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS OF VERMONT 



BY JAMES WALTER GOLDTHWAIT 



{Abstract) 



The question of the former existence or non-existence of local glaciers in the 

 Green Mountains has met the attention of several observers, and since the time 

 of Edward Hitchcock has invariably been answered in the afl5rmative. The 

 evidences adduced to prove local glaciation. mainly by Edward Hitchcock and 

 his son. Prof. Charles H. Hitchcock, are varied, but include in particular: {a) 

 Striation accordant with valleys, but not in all cases accordant with those of 

 the continental glacier, and (6) "terminal and lateral moraines" and "moraine 

 terraces" in valleys issuing from the Green Mountains. 



Inquiry into these evidences shows that it is possible to ascribe all to the 

 work of the continental ice-sheet and associated drainage during the state of 



