i8*y.J 



THE DISPLACEMENT OF BEACH LINES. 



Siberian pole of greatest cold. We have, however, yet another 

 pole of cold in arctic North America. And this last pole may 

 possibly be of later origin, it may perhaps be a result of the 

 great Quaternary upheavals in arctic North America, and of 

 geographical changes, for instance in the regions about the 

 Behring Strait. 



From what has been said, above, it is clear that no parti- 

 cularly great geographical changes are needed, to effect a radical 

 change in the climate of Northern polar regions. And we may 

 conclude that such geographical changes have been more exten- 

 sive in the Northern Atlantic than in the Northern Pacific, 

 since we see that the climatic changes were much greater in 

 the first quarter than in the second. 



The entrance to the northern parts of the two great oceans 

 is barred by volcanic lines. South of the Behring Sea, the vol- 

 canic line of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands runs across from 

 continent to continent; and in the Northern Atlantic there is 

 likewise a volcanic line, stretching, from Iceland and the Faroe 

 Islands along the submarine bank, to Greenland and Scotland. 



Such volcanic lines are lines of weakness in the crust, where 

 w e may expect greater disturbances and changes than else- 

 where. The reader should look at the map given by Neumayr 1 

 representing the Mediterranean of the Older Pliocene, and he 

 w "l at once see that in such volcanic regions great geographi- 

 cal changes occur in relatively short time. 



And what a great influence would there not be exercised 

 on the climate of the polar and northern regions, if, for 

 instance, the above, named submarine bank, from Scotland to 

 Greenland, were to be lifted above the waters. Even if the 

 land connection were not to be quite complete, the warm current, 

 which now has access to the polar seas, would be reduced, and 

 th e climate would be considerably deteriorated in all regions 

 1 uated north of the bank. I have shown elsewhere, that there 

 are S°od botanic reasons for believing, that Iceland, the Faroe 



