June-October 1881, Cruise of the Corwin, Part II Image 193

• Main Author: Muir, John
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarly Commons 1881
• Subjects: John Muir; journals; drawings; writings; travel; journaling; naturalist; Tundra
• Online Access: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/2195; https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/context/jmj-all/article/3194/type/native/viewcontent/fullsize.jpg

The base of the main heavy central portion of the ice cliff is probably beneath the sea-level, and were it not frozen would be a small active glacier that would rapidly vanish. Being frozen, however, over the top and undoubtedly to the side and bottom it is rigid as the rock against which it is leaning. Several pretty good cross-sections, 50 ft. or so in depth, may be seen, showing the structure where a small stream has cut handsome canyons into it. The ice seems perfectly free from leaves, moss, or any sort of admixture of vegetable matter or dirt, only a slight tinge of what may be caused by the infiltration of tundra water. The color is grayish white outside, with a glassy fracture inside, but with some hints of granular structure, as if the transformation https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmj-all/3194/thumbnail.jpg