Letter to Taylor from Leverett, April 15, 1924

Item — Box: 2, Folder: 17

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: April 15, 1924

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

I see on the chart that your moraines from Winsted N to Whitehall cover a district that somewhat closely corresponds to that studied by Anteys in the Connecticut valley; he brings the entire ice retreat from Hartford to St. Johnsbury in about 4000 years. Do you think the many shaded moraines shown on your chart were also formed in 4000 years or less? Your chart does not show the full series of Early Wisconsin moraines such as displayed in IL where the Shelbyville, Champaign and Bloomington morainic systems contain 2-4 moraines each. I think the Tekonsha-Union City moraine marks the limits of the middle Wisconsin series rather than the Kalamazoo-Missessinewa. The Late Wisconsin starts with the Port Huron which seems to corrrelate with the end position of the DesMoines and James RIver or Dakota ice lobes, or with the Altamont moraine which is somewhat back from the Wisconsin drift border in IA and SD. In my opinion it is a waste of time to try to use the Croll hypothesis as the 21000 interval. I have glanced at your 1897 paper and note you were using the Croll Hypothesis. It was more pardonable then than now to introduce it in a discussion of time covered by a glacial stage. I think it now apparent that it has no place in such estimates.