Letter to Taylor from Leverett, December 4, 1928
Scope and Contents
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 4, 1928
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
General
I have been reading W.A. Johnston's paper in the Trans. Royal Society of Canada on "The age of the Upper Great Gorge of the Niagara River" and W.H. Boyd's "A new method of determining the rate of recession of Niagara Falls". Johnston seems to make it clear that the gorge of the Whirrlpool Rapids antedates the last glaciation. The only part of your estimate on the age of the Niagara that he thinks is reliable is the part pertaining to the Upper Great Gorge, and he lengthens this to 4000 years. It is quite disconcerting to hear such developments after we have been taking the old views as well grounded, but it is the "Truth" we are after and not the defense of a particular view or estimate. I presume you rec'd these papers and may have corresponded with Johnston prior to their publication. I heard through Antevs about the new developments a couple months ago. He will now need to revise his recent book on "The Last Glaciation" as he took your estimate as well established when calculating the time of the departure of the Wisconsin ice sheet. I hope to see you at the New York meeting. I have been under considerable strain this fall but think I will be strong enough to make the trip and sttend the meeting. I presume you heard that I broke my left arm near the shoulder when in the White Mountains in early August. A couple months later I developed a soreness in my left breast that suggested cancer as it had a small lump, so the lump was removed in surgery on October 19 and found not to be malignant. I am not about over the effect of the operation and am getting fair use of my arm although the muscles in my should blade are so contracted from disuse that I can get only slight movement of that arm. I am sawing wood lately to develop these muscles. In addition to these complaints I have the chronic bronchial cough which has been a little worse this fall. The doctor advises me to go to AZ after the NY meetings as the dry air there may be better for me than the humid MI air in the winter and spring. So we are planning to go to Tucson early in January. I hope you are in fair health and able to go to the NY meetings. Prof. Chamberlin's death seems to have been quite sudden. I had hoped he would live to bring out a planned paper on the nomenclature of the Pleistocene stages. There is urgent need for such a paper.
Repository Details
Part of the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collections Repository