24:4 PEOF. a. E. WRIGHT ON EECE.NT GEOLOGICAL [May I9OI, 



16. E,ECENT Geological Changes in Northern and Central Asia. 

 By Prof. George Feedericb: Wright, F.G.S.A. (Commuui- 

 cated by the President. Eead March 6th, 1901.) 



There are so many points of resemblance between Northern and 

 Eastern America and the corresponding areas of Asia that one 

 would naturally expect to find that the Glacial history of the two 

 regions had been somewhat similar. In North America the 

 evidence is abundant and unmistakable, that in post-Tertiary times 

 Glacial ice extended along the Atlantic coast southward from 

 Labrador and the Hudson-Bay region as far as New York City in 

 lat. 41°, and in the Mississippi Valley to Carbondale in Southern 

 Illinois, about lat. 38°. North of an irregular line connecting these 

 points the whole country was, at a very recent period, covered with 

 Glacial ice as deep as that which mantles Greenland at the present 

 time. In all, about 4,000,000 square miles were brought under the 

 direct influence of Glacial ice in America. 



Being familiar with nearly the whole of this North American 

 field, and somewhat so with the glaciated portions of Europe, I set 

 out, a little more than a year ago, in company with my son, 

 Mr. Frederick B. Wright, to examine those portions of the Asiatic 

 Continent which most nearly correspond in general superficial 

 conditions to the glaciated portions of America. Sailing from San 

 Francisco in February 1900, we spent six weeks in Japan, and 

 satisfied ourselves that loft}'" as the mountains are, there have never 

 been extensive glaciers among those on Nippon, the largest of the 

 islands. From the verbal reports made to us by Prof. Jimbo, of the 

 University of Tokyo, it seems equally clear that the more northern 

 island of Yesso shows no signs of general glaciation, though it 

 extends from lat. 42° N. to lat. 45°. 



From Japan we went to Peking, and on the 8th of May set out 

 for Kalgau, 150 miles inland, on the Mongolian frontier, spending 

 a week in an excursion along the border of the Mongolian plateau 

 and the mountainous region to the north-east. The general elevation 

 here is about 5000 feet, while many peaks rise up to heights 

 considerably greater, and the latitude corresponds nearly to that 

 of New York. But we observed nowhere any signs whatever of 

 Glacial action. 



This whole region through which we rode on muleback was, 

 however, covered with loess, and is in large part the section of country 

 from which Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen drew his powerful argu- 

 ments for the agency of the wind in the distribution of the loess. In 

 the storms which we encountered, we had abundant opportunity of 

 witnessing the power of wind in transporting, not only dust, but 

 sand and gravel. For a whole half-day before reaching Kalgan we 

 faced a storm in one of the valleys, when we could not see half way 

 across the road on account of the dust which filled the air, while 



