Extract
As much of our paper deals with phenomena connected with glacier lakes, perhaps a short historical reference to one or two notable British examples would not be out of place. Firstly, there occurs the glacial lake of Glen Roy with its parallel roads or strand lines. The interpretation of these phenomena evoked much discussion until, in 1863, Jameson1 furnished an explanation which gained acceptance. He showed that Agassiz was correct in claiming that the strands represented different lake levels, the lake being due to a glacier crossing the mouth of the glen and impounding the drainage waters.
Next there is the evidence brought forward by Mr Dugald Bell,2 and later by Mr James Geikie,3 in his Great Ice Age, showing that a lake had occupied the Glasgow area in late glacial times. This had been probably caused by a glacier advancing down the Vale of Leven and damming the Clyde near Bowling. The overflow waters from this lake are believed to have flowed along the valley which the Glasgow and S.W. Railway follows by Lochwinnoch and Dalry.
In 1901 Kendall and Muff 4 published a paper dealing with a system of lakes held up by glaciers in the Cheviot Hills.
One of the most interesting papers on glacial phenomena, however, is undoubtedly that dealing with a system of lakes in the Cleveland Hills, by Prof. Kendall,5 published in 1902. It is a very instructive paper to anyone studying this branch of glaciology. The author not only describes the different lake
- © The Edinburgh Geological Society 1925
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