GLACIAL SUCCESSION IN EUROPE. 



147 



6. Freshwater alluvia, lignite, peat, &c. (some of the so-called postglacial alluvia of 

 Britain ; interglacial beds of North Germany, &c. ; Alpine lands (?) ; marine deposits 

 Interglacial . j °f Britain and Baltic coast-lands). 



Britain probably again continental ; climate at first temperate and somewhat 

 insular; submergence ensues with cold climatic conditions — Scotland depressed for 

 100 feet ; Baltic provinces of Germany, &c, invaded by the waters of the North Sea. 



Glacial 



7. Ground-moraines, terminal moraines, &c, of mountain regions of Britain ; upper 

 diluvium of Scandinavia, Finland, North Germany, &c; great terminal moraines of same 

 regions ; terminal moraines in the large longitudinal valleys of the Alps (Penck). 



Major portion of Scottish Highlands covered by ice-sheet ; local ice-sheets in 

 Southern Uplands of Scotland and mountain districts in other parts of Britain; great 

 valley-glaciers sometimes coalesce on low grounds ; icebergs calved at mouths of 

 Highland sea-lochs ; terminal moraines dropped upon marine deposits then forming 

 (100-feet beach). Scandinavia shrouded in a great ice-sheet, which broke away in ice- 

 bergs along the whole west coast of Norway. Epoch of the last great Baltic glacier. 



Interglacial . 



f 8. Freshwater alluvia (with Arctic plants) ; " lower buried forest and peat " (Britain 

 and North-west Europe generally). Carse-clays and raised beaches of 45-50-feet 

 level in Scotland. 



Britain again continental; climate at first cold, subsequently becoming temperate: 

 great forests. Eventual insulation of Britain ; climate humid, and probably colder 

 than now. 



Glacial 



f 9. Local moraines in mountain-valleys of Britain, here and there resting on 45-50- 

 feet beach ; so-called " postglacial " moraines in the upper valleys of the Alps. 



Probably final appearance of glaciers in our islands. Some of these glaciers attained 

 a considerable size, reaching the sea and shedding icebergs. It may be noted here 

 that the decay of these latest glaciers was again followed by emergence of the land 



k and a recrudescence of forest-growth (" upper buried forest "). 



A word of reference may now be made to that remarkable association of evidence of 

 submergence, with proofs of glacial conditions, which has so frequently been noted by 

 geologists. Take, for example, the succession in Scotland, and observe how each glacial 

 epoch was preceded and apparently accompanied by partial submergence of the land : — 



1. Epoch of greatest mer de glace (lower boulder-clay) ; British and Scandinavian ice-sheets 



coalescent. Followed by wide land-surface = Continental Britain, with genial climate. 

 Submergence of land — to what extent is uncertain, but apparently to 500 feet or so. 



2. Epoch of lesser mer de glace (upper boulder-clay) ; British and Scandinavian ice-sheets 



coalescent. Followed by wide land-surface = Continental Britain, with genial climate. 

 Submergence of land for 100 feet or thereabout. 



3. Epoch of local ice-sheets' in mountain districts ; glaciers here and there coalesce on the 



low grounds; icebergs calved at mouths of Highland sea-lochs (moraines on 100-feet 

 beach). Followed by wide land-surface = Continental Britain, with genial climate. 

 Submergence of land for 50 feet or thereabout. 



4. Epoch of small local glaciers, here and there descending to sea (moraines on 50-feet 



beach). 



