THE KOETTLITZ GLACIER 
423 
^ Bar ' or Riegel. Then about i- mile farther west we 
reach the snout of the Taylor Glacier, which appears to 
be overriding moraine material at its extremity. The 
surface of the latter rises 600 feet in a very short distance, 
and is carved into alcoves and guUies by the sun — all 
of these erosion features presenting a steep face to the 
north and a gently sloping one to the south. The thaw 
streams on the glacier and in the moraine-filled Dry Valley 
all flow to the N.E. 
Visitors to Switzerland will recognise how closely this 
alternation of ' gorge,' ' riegel,' and ' bowl ' recalls the 
classic glacial valley south of the Saint Gothard Tunnel. 
Moreover, Lake Lucerne owes its cross-like plan to the action 
of two parallel glaciers — one of which overflowed (near 
the Rigi) into the adjoining valley. The same process is 
being carried on to-day where the ' apposed ' glaciers of 
the Ferrar and Taylor valleys are joined in Siamese-twin 
fashion south-east of Knob Head. 
(b) The Koettlitz Glacier cascades over ice falls near 
Heald Island and reaches sea level while still 20 miles 
from its snout. This 20 miles of low-level glacier is ex- 
tremely interesting, for it would appear to be a stagnant 
area whose chief characteristics are due to the action of 
thaw waters on an old glacier surface. The pinnacles, 
bastions, and bergs have been described in the preceding 
narrative. Here again the drainage is directed diagonally 
across the glacier to the north-east. Some movement 
has taken place, for the edge of uniform glacier sheet on 
the south is fringed by great bergs which are differently 
oriented, though all sealed in the extremely ancient 
