Studies in the Sierra. No. 1-Mountain Sculpture.
::* - * Studies in the Sierra STUDIES IN THE SIERRA* 225 I. Mountain Sculpture By John Muir In the beginning of the long glacial winter, the lofty Sierra seems to have consisted of one vast undulated wave, in which a thousand separate mountains, with their domes and spires, their innumerable canons...
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| Language: | English |
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Scholarly Commons
1915
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| Online Access: | https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/378 https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/jmb/article/1377/viewcontent/329.pdf |
| Summary: | ::* - * Studies in the Sierra STUDIES IN THE SIERRA* 225 I. Mountain Sculpture By John Muir In the beginning of the long glacial winter, the lofty Sierra seems to have consisted of one vast undulated wave, in which a thousand separate mountains, with their domes and spires, their innumerable canons and lake basins, lay concealed. In the development of these, the Master Builder chose for a tool, not the earthquake nor lightning to rend and split asunder, not the stormy torrent nor eroding rain, but the tender snow-flowers, noiselessly falling through unnumbered seasons, the offspring of the sun and sea. If we should attempt to restore the .range to its pre-glacial tin- sculptured condition, its network of profound canons would have to be filled up, together with all its lake and meadow basins; and every rock and peak, however lofty, would have to be buried again beneath the fragments which the glaciers have broken off and carried away. Careful study of the phenomena presented warrants the belief that the un- glac'iated condition of the range was comparatively simple; yet the double summits about the head of Kern River and Lake Tahoe, and the outlying spurs of Hoffmann and Merced, would appear to indicate the primary existence of considerable depressions and elevations. Even these great features, however, razy be otherwise accounted for. All classes of glacial phenomena are displayed in the Sierra on the grandest scale, furnishing unmistakable proof of the universality of the ice-sheet beneath whose heavy folds all her sublime landscapes were molded. Her ice- winter is now nearly ended, and her flanks are clothed with warm forests; but in high latitudes, north and south, and in many lofty mountains, it still prevails with variable severity. Greenland and the lands near the south pole are undergoing ΓÇóReprinted from the Overland Monthly of May, 1874. This is the first of a series of studies published by Mr. Muir more than forty years ago. It is a fine example of the geological pioneer work done by John Muir in the ... |
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