Here again the influence of Springs is called into service. As all
the hills and mountains, it is here claimed, are the results of water
aided by centrifugal force, therefore the hills and mountains become
the reservoirs of supply for all the lower parts of the Earth. This
arrangement of Nature provided the means for producing a Glacier. At
high altitudes in the mountains, whether in the frigid zone or in the
temperate, break forth springs; coursing down the mountain side to the
valleys, the waters soon become aërated so as to freeze. Springs from
different ranges and neighboring heights contribute their streams,
all commingling in the deep cañons and freezing in a mass. With the
accumulations of snow and rain, this body grows until in time, by the
constant supply from the springs, rain and snow, the mountain gorges
are filled however wide and large they may be.
This monstrous aggregation of ice must of course seek a lower point by
its enormous weight and constant accumulation on top, and naturally
begins to crawl down the valley grade. The first inception of a glacier
is spring water, which with other contributions named ultimately
produces what may be called a river of ice.
Under the ice river is always flowing a stream of water, and many air
holes and openings are found upon the surface at different points,
no doubt produced by the influence of spring water coming in of
temperature above freezing or at the usual fifty-two degrees, about the
average of fresh water springs in all latitudes. This conglomeration
of influences to make a glacier shows the absurdity of having such
solid masses break off, as claimed to be seen by Arctic explorers,
large enough to remain intact well down into the Atlantic Ocean. As
these mountain ravines fill up, of course the waters involve and
cover with ice, every rock and tree, and all such objects in the way
must necessarily be carried to some lower point and ultimately left.
This faculty of a glacier has given it credit for performing all such
apparent transitions, while icebergs which evidently do 1,000 times
this amount of work are getting much the smaller share of credit.
It has been reported by sailors in the region of icebergs that by
observations taken during a few months, they perceptibly grow many
feet higher, which goes to prove the claim that they are constantly
being added to from underneath. With change of season, these monsters
are floated away from their moorings, toward the Equator to cool and
freshen the main oceans, produce electric currents of air, become the
wonder and terror of ocean travel, and melting away under tropical
suns; or on the other hand, some may seek the interior and contribute
themselves to the cooling of the waters that manifest themselves in
refreshing springs all over the Earth.
There were newspaper reports of large masses of ice being thrown out
during the great eruption in the Island of Java, but such statements
may do better for newspaper items than to sustain an argument in
this work. How can this equable condition of spring water, with its
delicious coolness adjusted to all seasons and tastes, be accounted
for if it does not come practically from one common source? Will some
scientist answer?