PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS 35 



tinct shorelines elevated 17 to 19 feet, Among those who landed here 

 was Dr G. K. Gilbert, whose critical studies and interpretations of aban- 

 doned shorelines are well known. The fact that he does not mention an 

 uplift there, where the uplifted shorelines are very perfect, is suggestive 

 evidence that they had not then been upraised; and this conclusion is 

 amply verified by other evidence. Doctor Gilbert describes the general 

 physiography of the region, giving especial attention to the glaciers, in 

 his book which forms a part of the series of Harriman Expedition mono- 

 graphs.* 



In July, 1901, a U. S. Fish Commission expedition, under the direction 

 of Ensign Cyrus R. Miller, went up the fiord; and while his description 

 gives no information of the change in level which had occurred, one of his 

 photographs* plainly shows a part of the elevated shoreline of Haenke 

 island. He does state, however (page 384) that around the circular lake 

 on the foreland at the mountain base (to which we have given the name 

 Miller lake), the eastern and western shores were covered with dead 

 spruce and hemlock, said to have been killed during the earthquake of 

 September, 1899. This lake lies on one of our inferred fault lines. 



GENERAL STATEMENT OF OBSERVATIONS IN 1905 



Our work along the shores of Yakutat bay and Russell fiord extended 

 from June 24 to September 2. We found that the shorelines of the inlet 

 had been differentially deformed and the mountain rocks in places shat- 

 tered by minor faulting. Parts of the coast show no change in level; 

 some areas are depressed ; but throughout most of the coast there has been 

 uplift of from one to ten feet. Locally the uplift far exceeds this figure, 

 along one shore attaining a maximum of 47 feet 4 inches. The evidence 

 of these changes is varied and can best be presented under different 

 headings. 



Physiographic Evidences of recent Uplift 

 elevated rock benches 



At various points about the shores of the fiord, rock benches stand 

 higher than the cutting zone of present waves. They vary in width from 

 a foot or two to 30 or 40 feet, and are planed across all sorts of structures 

 and all kinds of rocks. In numerous instances small streams cascade 

 over their edge, owing to the introduction of the hanging valley condition 

 by the uplift. In general the benches are broadest where the rocks are 



* Alaska — vol. iii, Glaciers and Glaciation, by G. K. Gilbert, 1904, pp. 45-70. 

 t Plate xliv, opposite p. 392, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., vol. xxi, 1901. 



