I II R. S. TARR — GLACIATION OF MOUNT KTAADN, MAINE 



Two or three attempts to penetrate this tangle were sufficiently suc- 

 cessful to prove the nature of the deposit. It is properly located for a 

 moraine, and is hummocky, with numerous small kettles. It is remark- 

 ably high, and the two longer ponds, whose beds are boulder-strewn, 

 have a depth of certainly more than 25 feet, while the moraine which 

 incloses them rises from 15 to 60 feet higher than the surface of the ponds 

 (see plate 38). On the side away from the basins the height is much 

 greater than this. 



This high ridge is classified as a terminal moraine. It extends in front 

 of the mouths of two distinctl}'' preglacial valleys, so that it seems im- 

 possible for it to be a rock ridge, for such a ridge, in such a position, 

 would have been out of harmony with all known laws of stream erosion. 

 Not only its position, but its form and composition, indicate that it is a 

 dam of debris derived from the union of the two glaciers from the North 

 and South basins, possibly with the addition of a small glacier from the 

 side of Pamola, for it projects farther from the mountain opposite the 

 place where the South basin and Pamola glaciers would have united. 

 Hamlin's model shows the location of this ridge very well. 



Possible existence of other Glaciers 



Near Ktaadn are a number of other high mountains. The nearest of 

 these is Turner mountain, which is separated from Ktaadn by a moder- 

 ately broad valley. While no distinct evidence was obtained concern- 

 ing valley glaciers from this mountain, the presence of lakes near it and 

 their position indicate the possibility of valley glaciers having de- 

 scended from this mountain also. From casual observation the same 

 suggestion occurs concerning Traveller mountain and the group of moun- 

 tains to the northwest of Ktaadn. In fact the great abundance of small 

 ponds in the neighborhood of Ktaadn leads to the question whether a 

 number of valley glaciers from separate centers have not united and to- 

 gether extended to a considerable distance from the mountain, building 

 morainic dams for such lakes as Ktaadn lake. This is no more than a 

 mere suggestion as to the direction toward which future work might be 

 extended. 



There seem also to have been valley glaciers extending in other direc- 

 tions from Ktaadn. A suggestion of one of these is found at the Russell 

 ponds, which lie just to the north of the north spur of the mountain ; 

 but sufficient work was not done in that region to make it absolutely 

 certain that these moraines were formed by the valley tongues from the 

 mountain, although all observations indicated this. 



