14. Boulder Drift Theories

Sir Charles Lyell’s hypothesis—Supposed action of drift ice on the sandstones of the shore at Cape Blomidon, Nova Scotia—Miller’s elucidation of the iceberg theory—The polished and scratched rocks of Maine, not referable to the action of icebergs—The bergs carried forward by the polar current flowing beneath the Gulf Stream—They are not deflected from their common course by counter currents—Icebergs could not scratch the east and west sides of hills, and by no means the base at the south sides—They could not scratch an uphill sea bottom—Example on the Gloucester and Salem Turnpike, Massachusetts—A similar one at “Castle Rock”, Nahant—Iceberg theory inadequate to explain the denudation of the floor rock of New England—The supposition that the boulder country was a submerged region, implies a northern ocean free of icebergs—The boulder drift of the western states without marine fossils—The boulder country a dry land region, and greatly more elevated than at present, during the glacial age.