﻿E. 
  S. 
  Tarr— 
  Climate 
  of 
  Davis' 
  and 
  Baffin's 
  Bay. 
  319 
  

  

  Baffin 
  Land.* 
  Perhaps 
  in 
  this 
  depression 
  is 
  found 
  a 
  potent 
  

   cause 
  for 
  the 
  disappearance 
  of 
  the 
  ice 
  sheets. 
  

  

  Now 
  the 
  American 
  land 
  is 
  engaged 
  in 
  the 
  reverse 
  movement 
  

   of 
  uplift. 
  It 
  stood 
  three 
  hundred 
  feet 
  lower 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  so 
  

   recent 
  that 
  the 
  boulder 
  beaches 
  are 
  distinctly 
  visible, 
  and 
  the 
  

   individual 
  boulders 
  scarcely 
  injured 
  by 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  

   weather 
  in 
  this 
  region 
  of 
  extremely 
  violent 
  frost 
  work. 
  Their 
  

   surfaces 
  bear 
  lichens, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  still 
  rounded, 
  and 
  they 
  lie 
  

   directly 
  on 
  the 
  surface, 
  with 
  scarcely 
  any 
  soil 
  accumulation 
  

   since 
  they 
  became 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  dry 
  land. 
  Very 
  recently 
  this 
  

   land 
  was 
  moving 
  upward, 
  for 
  there 
  are 
  beaches 
  directly 
  above 
  

   the 
  present 
  ones, 
  and 
  yet 
  so 
  closely 
  connected 
  with 
  them 
  that 
  

   at 
  first 
  it 
  seemed 
  that 
  they 
  must 
  be 
  forming 
  even 
  now. 
  This 
  

   is 
  in 
  harmony 
  with 
  the 
  evidence 
  obtained 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Bell 
  on 
  the 
  

   shores 
  of 
  Hudson's 
  Bay. 
  

  

  Relation 
  of 
  Changes 
  in 
  Level 
  to 
  Glaciation. 
  — 
  Elevation 
  is 
  a 
  

   potent 
  cause 
  for 
  glaciation. 
  Baffin 
  Land 
  and 
  Labrador 
  have 
  

   been 
  glaciated 
  in 
  a 
  recent 
  period, 
  during 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  the 
  land 
  

   stood 
  a 
  thousand 
  feet 
  or 
  more 
  above 
  the 
  present 
  level. 
  The 
  ice 
  

   of 
  this 
  period 
  disappeared 
  when 
  the 
  land 
  was 
  lowered, 
  and 
  

   possibly 
  hecause 
  it 
  was 
  lowered. 
  Now 
  the 
  land 
  is 
  rising 
  : 
  at 
  

   present 
  the 
  climate 
  is 
  so 
  rigorous 
  that 
  even 
  with 
  the 
  present 
  

   elevation 
  the 
  conditions 
  are 
  nearly 
  severe 
  enough 
  for 
  glaciers 
  

   to 
  develop, 
  and 
  in 
  some 
  places 
  they 
  do 
  actually 
  exist. 
  Even 
  

   near 
  the 
  sea 
  level 
  the 
  snow 
  banks 
  do 
  not 
  disappear 
  before 
  the 
  

   first 
  of 
  August, 
  and 
  snow 
  commences 
  to 
  fall 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  

   as 
  early 
  as 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  September. 
  So 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  can 
  estimate 
  

   from 
  my 
  short 
  visit, 
  it 
  seems 
  that 
  there 
  must 
  be 
  places 
  not 
  far 
  

   above 
  the 
  sea 
  level 
  where 
  even 
  now 
  the 
  snow 
  stays 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  summer. 
  A 
  slight 
  change 
  in 
  climate 
  is 
  all 
  that 
  is 
  needed 
  

   to 
  increase 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  these, 
  and 
  to 
  add 
  to 
  their 
  area 
  and 
  

   depth 
  until 
  glaciers 
  begin. 
  The 
  elevation 
  needed 
  for 
  this 
  

   increased 
  rigor 
  cannot 
  be 
  many 
  hundred 
  feet 
  in 
  the 
  higher 
  

   regions. 
  

  

  Such 
  elevation, 
  if 
  widespread 
  (and 
  the 
  recent 
  uplifts 
  have 
  

   extended 
  over 
  a 
  broad 
  area), 
  would 
  remove 
  another 
  of 
  the 
  

   causes 
  for 
  moderation 
  in 
  this 
  northern 
  climate, 
  namely 
  the 
  

   disappearance 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  neighboring 
  water 
  : 
  the 
  recent 
  

   uplift 
  in 
  Baffin 
  Land 
  has 
  added 
  a 
  large 
  amount 
  of 
  land 
  to 
  the 
  

   former 
  area, 
  even 
  though 
  the 
  elevation 
  has 
  been 
  only 
  about 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  feet. 
  This 
  uplift 
  has 
  so 
  decreased 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  

   some 
  of 
  the 
  bays 
  and 
  straits 
  that 
  an 
  additional 
  elevation 
  of 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  feet 
  would 
  very 
  perceptibly 
  reduce 
  the 
  amount 
  

   of 
  water 
  both 
  north 
  and 
  west 
  of 
  Labrador. 
  This 
  added 
  land 
  

  

  * 
  The 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  elevated 
  beaches 
  of 
  Baffin 
  Land 
  is 
  discussed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  T. 
  L. 
  

   Watson 
  in 
  a 
  paper 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Journ. 
  of 
  Geo!., 
  1897, 
  v, 
  It. 
  

  

  