144^ The American Geologist. September, 1897 
coast, such for instance as the Upernavik glacier fifty or seven- 
ty-five miles south of this one. No large icebergs eauie from 
the front in the two or three weeks that we were camped with- 
in sight of the glacier. However, numerous icebergs of medi- 
um size were sent off, and innumerable small fragments were 
constantly floating away from "the glacier. During the time 
that we saw the ice front in intimate detail, its outline did 
not change in an}^ of its larger features, though there were 
many changes in minor details. 
Sea Margin. The sea front of the two arms of the T'ornell 
glacier is a solid wall of ice (Plate VII), undercut somewhat 
at the water level, and from this rising in most cases as a per- 
pendicular precipice to a hight of over 200 feet above the sea 
and in the higher places to an elevation of 300 feet. The crest 
of this sea wall forms a ragged sky line, as the crests and pin- 
nacles are outlined against the sky, and it is cracked by crev- 
asses in such a way, that every now and then pieces of great 
or small size are tumbling off, sending reports through the air 
and waves across the fjord. The birth of an iceberg was the 
most impressive sight among all the wonders of my Arctic 
journey. 
This ice wall was of marble whiteness throughout its entire 
extent. Not only was there no sign of debris on the ice sur- 
face, but none was revealed in the 200 or 300 feet of a point 
which rises above the sea, nor was there either lamination or 
stratification. It was a solid wall which in fracture resembled 
a find-grained dolomitic limestone which has no particles dis- 
coverable by the eye. In color it was of dazzling marble 
whiteness. So far as the sea end furnished, evidence there 
might have been no debris and no differential movement that 
would cause banding. That this conclusion is not warranted 
is plainly shown when an iceberg comes from the front, and 
in its turning reveals the bands of dirt in the lower ice. Not 
only was there no englacial or superglacial moraine, but there 
were no streams on or in the ice at its margin. Hence the the- 
ory of englacial or superglacial origin of certain kinds of gla- 
cial deposits receives no support from this study. 
The Land Margin — Outline. The ice cap in this region 
comes in contact with the land, coinciding closely with the 
irregularities of the land itself. If there is a valley a tongue 
