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THE JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY.

through them from one depression in the glacier to another. In some instances they are floored with debris, some of which is partially rounded. As melting progresses this material is concentrated at the surface as a moraine.

The ice in the various portions of the glacier was observed to be formed of alternate blue and white bands, as is the rule in glacial ice generally. The blue bands are of compact ice, while the white bands are composed of ice filled with air cavities. The banded structure is usually nearly vertical, but the dip, when noticeable, is northward. Nearly parallel with the blue and white layers, but crossing them at low angles, there are frequently bands of hard, blue ice several hundred feet long and 2 or 3 inches in thickness which have a secondary origin, and are due to the freezing of waters in fissures.

The rapid melting of the surface produces many curious phenomena, which are not peculiar to this glacier, however, but common to many ice bodies below the line of perpetual snow. The long belts of stone and dirt forming the moraines protect the ice beneath from the action of the sun and air, while adjacent surfaces waste away. The result of this differential melting is that the moraines become elevated on ridges of ice. The forms of the ridges vary according to the amount and character of the debris resting upon them. In places they are steep and narrow, and perhaps 150 or 200 feet high. From a little distance they look like solid masses of debris, and resemble great railroad embankments, but on closer examination they are seen to be ridges of ice, covered with a thin sheet of earth and stones. The sides of such ridges are exceedingly difficult to climb, owing to the looseness of the stones, which slide from beneath one's feet and roll down the slopes. The larger bowlders are the first to be dislodged by the melting of the ice, and, rolling down the sides of the ridges, form a belt of coarse debris along their margins. In this way a marked assortment of the debris in reference to size and shape frequently takes place. In time the narrow belts of large bowlders become elevated in their turn and form the crests of secondary ridges. Rocks rolling down the steep slopes are