Foot Steps of the Ancient Great Glacier of North America: A Long Lost Document of a Revolution in 19th Century Geological Theory PDF
Preview Foot Steps of the Ancient Great Glacier of North America: A Long Lost Document of a Revolution in 19th Century Geological Theory
Foot Steps of the Ancient Great Glacier of North America Harold W. Borns, Jr. • Kirk Allen Maasch Foot Steps of the Ancient Great Glacier of North America A Long Lost Document of a Revolution in 19th Century Geological Theory Harold W.Borns,Jr. KirkAllenMaasch ClimateChangeInstitute ClimateChangeInstitute TheUniversityofMaine TheUniversityofMaine Orono,Maine Orono,Maine USA USA ISBN978-3-319-13199-3 ISBN978-3-319-13200-6(eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-13200-6 LibraryofCongressControlNumber: 2014959260 SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon © SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthe materialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsorthe editorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrors oromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) Wededicatethisvolumetoourdeceased friendandcolleagueDavidClaytonSmith, EmeritusProfessorofHistoryatthe UniversityofMaine.Manyyearsago,after browsingDeLaski’shandwrittenmanuscript forthefirsttimeDavidasked“whoisthisDr. JohnK.DeLaski?”Thatprofoundquestion launchedalongandongoingsearchforthe shadowyfactsofDeLaski’slife,and ultimatelyanunderstandingofhisscientific researchandsignificanceofthismanuscript. Foreword Thepublicationofthisbook,writtenbyJohnKimballDeLaski,hasbeenalongtime incoming,about140yearstoolong!Thestoryisonewellknowntoday,butinmid- 19thcenturyitwasverymuchaheadofitstime.Amasterofreadingtheincredible geologicrecordindeliblyimprinteduponthelandscapeofMaine,hewasamongthe firsttorecognizethescaleoftheimmensecontinentalicesheetthatcoveredNorth Americaattheheightofthelasticeage.Overhislifetime,Dr.DeLaskimadecareful observationsofsurfacefeaturesacrossMainecomingtotheinescapableconclusion thatonlytheactionofglacierscouldhavecreatedthislandscape.Atthetimeofhis investigations the prevailing belief was that the biblical deluge and icebergs were theprimaryagenciesresponsibleforsculptingtheland. Inthisvolumewepresent the synthesis of DeLaski’s scientific work as of 1869 with a transcription of the handwrittenmanuscriptthathepresentedtothePortlandSocietyofNaturalHistory ofwhichhewasamember. Orono,Maine HaroldW.Borns,Jr. July2014 KirkAllenMaasch vii Contents PartI JohnKimballDeLaski 1 BiographicalSketch ........................................... 3 2 TheManuscript............................................... 13 PartII FootStepsoftheAncientGreatGlacierofNorthAmerica 3 Preface ...................................................... 17 4 ThePhenomenaofBoulderDrift................................ 19 5 Carver’sHarbor .............................................. 27 6 ResearchonRocks ............................................ 33 7 VinalhavenandNorthHaven ................................... 39 8 CamdenHillsandMountDesert................................ 45 9 MountDeserttoHolden ....................................... 55 10 BangortothePiscataquisValley ................................ 61 11 MountKatahdin ............................................. 65 12 TheInescapableConclusion—ALargeGlacier ................... 75 13 EvidenceFromAllOverNorthAmerica ......................... 79 14 BoulderDriftTheories ........................................ 85 15 ObjectiontoIcebergTheoryContinued ......................... 91 ix x Contents 16 AnAstronomicalTheory ....................................... 99 17 AstronomicalTheoryContinued ................................ 107 18 TheoryofMutableAxisoftheEarth ............................ 113 19 ContinentalUpheavalandSubsidence ........................... 119 20 TheChangeableRelationsofLandandWater.................... 125 21 SupposedCauseoftheColdPeriod ............................. 131 22 GeologicRecordSincetheDevonian ............................ 137 23 TheClimateCools............................................. 145 24 AGlacialTime................................................ 151 25 DurationoftheGlacialAge .................................... 161 26 EndoftheGlacialAge ......................................... 169 27 OntheMotionofGlaciers...................................... 179 28 PurposeoftheGlacier ......................................... 191 29 Late-Glacial Cold-Water Marine Shells of Maine andAdjacent Regions ...................................................... 199 Part I John Kimball DeLaski Chapter 1 Biographical Sketch JohnKimballDeLaski,M.D.wasbornJune9,1814inSt.John,NewBrunswick.He emigratedtoBangor,MaineonJune9,1833andwasnaturalizedinPortland,Maine onJanuary4,1868.HemarriedAnneVaughnWiseinEastport,MaineonJuly27, 1839, and together they had eight children. In the early 1850’s the family moved toIronPointontheislandofVinalhaven, Maineandlater, toCarver’sHarbor, the villageontheisland.Dr.DeLaskipracticedmedicinefornearly30years,butwhere andwhenhereceivedhismedicaltrainingisunknown.Ithasbeensuggestedthathe mayhaveapprenticedtoamedicaldoctor.Inadditiontopracticingmedicinehealso carefullyobservedtheMainelandscapeasageologicalnaturalist.Hemeticulously described, often in minute detail, the evidence on the ground that he attributed to former extensive glaciations of the Penobscot Bay region. Through the decade of the1860’shecompliedhisobservationsintoahandwrittenbookmanuscriptentitled “FootStepsoftheAncientGreatGlacierofNorthAmerica”dated1869,thatwasnot published until now. However, parts of the manuscript were previously published as articles in the local Rockland Gazette and as scientific papers in theAmerican Journal of Science and other places. He was also a published poet. It is apparent fromtheseearlyobservationsanddescriptionsthatDeLaskihadarealappreciation fortheimmensityoftheicesheetthathedeterminedhadcoveredthisregionofMaine andNewBrunswickandmuchofNorthAmericainthepast.Notethatinthepreface of his book DeLaski wrote “In presenting the following pages to the public, I am actuatedbytheconvictionthattheviewshithertohadoftheancientgreatglacierof NorthAmerica,byscientificmenaswellasbygeologicalreadersgenerally,havenot cometothemagnitudeofthemass,nortothegiganticworkwhichithaspreformed upon the floor of our continent.” Among these scientific men were LouisAgassiz and James Dwight Dana, both of whom we know he interacted and corresponded withovertheyears. LouisAgassiz,whileaprofessoratNeuchâtelandpresidentoftheNaturalHistory SocietyofSwitzerlandannouncedinhispresidentialaddressof1837andultimately tothebroadscientificcommunity,thatEarthhadexperiencedaniceageintherecent past during which a great glacier had flowed south from the arctic covering most of northern Europe and the Alps. This was in direct contrast to the devines who ©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015 3 H.W.Borns,Jr.,K.A.Maasch,FootStepsoftheAncientGreatGlacierofNorthAmerica, DOI10.1007/978-3-319-13200-6_1
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