Letter to Taylor from Leverett, December 10, 1920

Item — Box: 2, Folder: 13

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Series:

The correspondence series includes approximately 1100 letters written between 1892-1939. The majority of the collection are letters between Frank Leverett and Frank Bursley Taylor; they discuss their field work, Monograph 53, other publications and various related problems. There is also other correspondence with other geologists, including T.C. Chamberlin, Grove K. Gilbert, J.W. Goldthwait, H.L. Fairchild, et alia. There is extensive correspondence with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geological Survey of Canada, and the Michigan Geological Survey. The primary subject of this series is the surficial glacial geology of the midwestern U.S. and Canada. Leverett & Taylor's work was essential for understanding how the Great Lakes were formed as the Pleistocene glaciers advanced and retreated from the midwestern states. The letters describe the 30 year process of gathering data, mapping the data and constructing the picture of glacial processes during the last Ice Age.

Dates

Creation: December 10, 1920

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

The material is stored offsite in Remote Storage. Please contact Special Collections 3 working days in advance if you wish to use it.

Extent

From the Collection: 1 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

General

Rec'd your letter and revised MS. I see you have expanded the treatment quite a bit. The subject is one on which I have never deliberated and so far outside the range of my studies that I am unable to comprehend, much less fully appreciate, what you have written. I see you are down for a GSA paper on a topic similar to Hobbs' paper given at the Research Club. I shall be interested in learning how much you two are in agreement. I have about given up going to the meeting this year for I am not getting much good use of my leg. I cannot yet put on my pants or shoe, so I would need a valet. It may also be too risky to try to get around in the winter ice. I wish you would take careful notes of papers that might be of interest to me and favor me with a copy. P.S. I have just written Rollin Chamberlin an estimate of the length of several stages in the glacial epoch, and I presume you have been asked to do the same. I allow 50,000 to 100,000 years for each stage or an average of 75,000 years; 25% in the coming, 50% in the culmination, and 25% in the recession. I make the culmination include all the time from the Shelbyville Moraine to the outer moraine of the Des Moines and Dakota ice lobes, which are correlatives of the Port Huron Morainic System.