Science, Geology and Physics 



Relationship of the Falls to Geological Time 



All attempts to reduce geological time to terms of years are 1895 

 most difficult, but the Niagara river seemed to be an easy s P cnccT 

 chronometer to read, and yet we see that some utterances even 

 this year are vastly farther from the mark than those made fifty 

 years ago — the clock had not kept mean time throughout its 

 existence. After this attempt at regulating the chronometer, 

 investigators will doubtless carry the determinations to greater 

 accuracy, but for the present I can offer this geological compen- 

 sation. The Niagara seems a stepping stone back to the ice age. 

 What is the connection between the river and the Pleistocene 

 phenomena ? 



The Lake epoch is an after phase of the Glacial period, and 

 Niagara came into existence long subsequent to the commence- 

 ment of the lakes. If we take the differential elevation of the 

 deserted beaches, and treat them as absolute uplifts in the 

 Niagara district, with the mean rate of rise in the earlier portion 

 of the lake epoch as in the later, then the appearance of Warren 

 water in the Erie basin was about 60 per cent longer ago than 

 the age of Niagara river; or about 50,000 years ago. The 

 earlier rate of deformation was not greater than that during the 

 Niagara episode as shown by the deformation of the beaches, 

 but it may have been slower, so that from 50,000 to 60,000 

 years ago Warren water covered more or less of the Erie basin. 

 Before the birth of Niagara river, by several thousand years, 

 there was open water extending from the Erie basin far into the 

 Ontario and all the upper lakes were open water with a strait 

 at Nipissing, but the northeastern limits are not known, and 

 although they do not affect the age of Niagara, yet they leave 

 an open question as to the end of the ice age, in case of those 

 who do not regard the advent of the lakes as its termination. 

 From these considerations it would appear that the close of the 

 ice age may safely be placed at 50,000 years ago. 



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