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Exploring the Variety of Random
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The surface of the névé is white, except near its lower limit in late
summer, where it frequently becomes covered with dust blown from
neighboring cliffs. It is almost entirely free from moraines, but at the
bases of steep slopes small areas of débris sometimes appear at the
surface when the yearly melting has reached its maximum. The
absence of moraines is accompanied by an absence of glacial tables,
sand-cones and other details of glacial surfaces due to differential
melting. Streams seldom appear at the surface, for the reason that
usually the water produced by surface melting is quickly absorbed by
the porous strata beneath; yet the crevasses are frequently filled with
water, and sometimes shallow lakes of deep blue occur at the bottoms
of the amphitheatres and form a marked contrast to the even white of
the general surface. Crevasses are present or absent according to the
slope of the surface on which the névé rests. In the crevasses the
edges of horizontal layers of granular ice are exhibited, showing that
the névé down to a depth of at least one or two hundred feet is
horizontally stratified. In the St. Elias region the strata are most
frequently from ten to fifteen feet thick, but in a few instances layers
without partings over fifty feet thick were seen. The surface is always
of white, granular ice, but in the crevasses the layers near the bottom
appear more compact and bluer in color than those near the surface.

Some of the most striking features of the névé are due to the
crevasses that break their surfaces. The orderly arrangement of
marginal crevasses and of the interior crevasses at the rapids in the
Seward glacier have already been referred to; but there are still other
crevasses, especially in the broad, gently sloping portions of the snow-
fields where the motion is slight, which, although less regular in their
arrangement, are fully as interesting. The crevasses on such slopes
generally run at right angles to the direction in which the snow is
moving. On looking down on such a surface, the breaks look like long
clear-cut gashes which have stretched open in the center, but taper to
a sharp point at each end. The ability of the névé ice to stretch to a
limited extent is thus clearly shown. The initiation of the crevasses
seems to be due to the movement of the névé ice over a surface in
which there are inequalities of such magnitude that the ice cannot
stretch sufficiently to allow it to accommodate itself to them, so that
strains are produced which result in fractures at right angles to the line
of general movement. Crevasses found where the grade is gentle vary
from a fraction of an inch to 10 or 15 feet in width, and are sometimes
two or three thousand feet long. Broader gulfs are seldom formed
unless the slope has an inclination of 15° or 20°.

The grandest crevasses are in the higher portions of the névé, and
occur especially on the borders of the great amphitheatres. In such
situations the crevasses are usually fewer in number but are of greater
size than in equal areas lower down. A length of three or four
thousand feet and a breadth of fifty feet or more is not uncommon.
The finest and most characteristic glacial scenery is found among these
great cañon-like breaks. Standing on the border of one of the gulfs, as
near the brink as one cares to venture, their full depth cannot usually
be seen. In some instances they are partially filled with water of the
deepest blue, in which the ice-walls are reflected with such wonderful
distinctness that it is impossible to tell where the ice ends and its
counterfeit begins. The walls of the crevasses are most frequently
sheer cliffs of stratified ice, with occasional ornamentations, formed of
ice-crystals or a pendent icicle. After a storm they are frequently
decorated in the most beautiful manner with fretwork and cornice of
snow. The bridges spanning the crevasses are usually diagonal slivers
of ice left where the clefts overlap; but at times, especially in the case
of the larger crevasses, there are true arches resembling the Natural
Bridge of Virginia, but on a larger scale, spanning the blue cañons and
adding greatly to their strange, fairy-like beauty. The most striking
feature of these cracks is their wonderful color. All tints, from the pure
white of their crystal lips down to the deepest blue of their innermost
recesses, are revealed in each gash and rent in the hardened snow.

Above the snow-line all of the mountain tops that are not precipitous
are heavily loaded with snow. Where the snow breaks off at the verge
of a precipice and descends in avalanches a depth of more than a
hundred feet is frequently revealed, but in the valleys and
amphitheatres the snow has far greater thickness. Pinnacles and crests
of rock, rising through the icy covering, indicate that the thickness of
the névé must be many hundreds of feet.
There are no evidences of former glaciation on the mountain crests
which project above the névé fields. There are no polished and striated
rock surfaces or glaciated domes to indicate that the mountains were
ever covered by a general capping of ice, as has been postulated for
similar mountains elsewhere. When the glaciers had their greatest
expansion the higher mountains were in about their present condition.
The increase in the volume of the glaciers was felt almost entirely in
their lower courses.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALPINE GLACIERS BELOW THE SNOW-LINE.

The first feature that attracts attention on descending from the névé
region to the more icy portion of the glaciers is the rapid melting
everywhere taking place. Every day during the summer the murmur
and roar of rills, brooks and rivers are to be heard in all of the ice-
fields. The surface streams are usually short, on account of the
crevasses which intercept them. They plunge into the gulfs, which are
many times widened out by the flowing waters so as to form wells, or
moulins, and join the general drainage beneath. The streams then flow
either through caverns in the glaciers or in tunnels at the bottoms.
While traversing the glacier one may frequently hear the subdued roar
of rivers coursing along in the dark chambers beneath when no other
indication of their existence appears at the surface. When these
subglacial streams emerge, usually near the margin of the ice, they
issue from archways forming the ends of tunnels, and perhaps flow for
a mile or two in the sunlight before plunging into another tunnel to
continue their way as before.

The best example of a glacial river seen during our exploration was
near the western border of the Lucia glacier. It is shown in the
illustration forming plate 12, which is reproduced mechanically from a
photograph. This Styx of the ice-world has been described on an
earlier page. The lakes formed at the southern end of nearly every
mountain spur projecting into the Malaspina glacier discharge through
tunnels in the ice, which are similar in every way to those formed by
the stream already mentioned.
In the beds of the glacial streams there are deposits of sand and
gravel, and when the streams expand into lakes these deposits are
spread over their bottoms in more or less regular sheets. When
streams from the mountains empty into the lakes, deltas are formed.
While these deltas have the same characteristics as those built in more
stable water bodies, many changes in detail occur, owing to the
fluctuation of the water level.

One of the tunnels leading to a dry lake-bed at the end of the

Hitchcock range was explored for several rods and found to be a high,
arching cavern following a tortuous course, and large enough to allow
one to drive a coach and four through it without danger of collision. Its
floor was formed of gravel and bowlders, and its arching roof was clear
ice. Here and there the courses of crevasses could be traced by the
stones and finer débris that had fallen in from above, giving the
appearance of veins in a mine. The deposit on the floor of the tunnel
rested upon ice, and would certainly be greatly disturbed and broken
up before reaching a final resting place in case the glacier should melt.
In the lake basins, also, the sand and gravel forming their bottoms
frequently rested upon substrata of ice, and are greatly disturbed when
the ice melts.

At the ends of the glaciers the subglacial and intraglacial drainage

issues from tunnels and forms muddy streams. These usually flow out
from the foot of a precipice of ice, down which rills are continually
trickling. The streams flowing away from the glaciers are usually rapid,
owing to the high grade of their built-up channels, and sweep away
large quantities of débris which is deposited along their courses. The
streams widen and bifurcate as they flow seaward, and spread vast
quantities of bowlders, sand, and gravel over the country to the right
and left, not infrequently invading the forests and burying the still
upright trees. The deposits formed by the streams are of the nature of
alluvial fans, over which the waters meander in a thousand channels.
Where this action has taken place long enough the alluvial fans end in
deltas; but should there be a current in the sea, the débris is carried
away and formed into beaches and bars along adjacent shores. Should
these glaciers disappear, it is evident that these great bowlder washes
would form peculiar topographic features, unsupported at the apexes,
and it might be perplexing to determine from whence came the waters
that deposited them. I am not aware that similar washes have been
recognized along the southern border of the Laurentide glaciers, but
they should certainly be expected to occur there.

Another very striking difference in the appearance of the glaciers above

and below the snow-line is due to the prevalence of débris on the
lower portion. The melting that takes place below the snow-line
removes the ice and leaves the rocks. In this manner the stones
previously concealed in the névé are concentrated at the surface, and
finally form sheets of débris many miles in extent. So far as my
observations go, there is nothing to indicate that stones are brought to
the surface by any other means than the one here suggested. Upward
currents in the ice that would bring stones to the surface have been
postulated by certain writers, but nothing sustaining such an
hypothesis has been found in Alaska.

The moraines on the lower extremities of the Alpine glaciers may

frequently be separated into individual ridges, which in many instances
would furnish instructive studies; but in no case has the history of
these accumulations been worked out in detail.

With the appearance of moraines at the surface come a great variety

of phenomena due to unequal melting. Ridges of ice sheathed with
débris, glacial tables, sand cones, etc., everywhere attract the
attention; but these features are very similar on all glaciers where the
summer's waste exceeds the winter's increase, and have been many
times described.

The general distribution of the moraines of the lower portion of the

Alpine glaciers of the St. Elias region merits attention. The moraines
themselves exhibit features not yet observed in other regions. From
Disenchantment bay westward to the Seward glacier the lower portions
of the ice-streams are covered and concealed by sheets of débris.
About their margins the débris fields support luxuriant vegetation, and
not infrequently are so densely clothed with flowers that a tint is given
to their rugged surfaces. On the extreme outer margins of the
moraines there are sometimes thickets and forests so dense as to be
almost impenetrable. The best example of forest-covered moraines
resting on living glaciers, however, is found along the borders of the
Malaspina ice-field.

PIEDMONT GLACIERS.

This type is represented in the region explored by the Malaspina

glacier. This is a plateau of ice having an area of between 500 and 600
square miles, and a surface elevation in the central part of between
1,500 and 1,600 feet. It is fed by the Agassiz, Seward, Marvine, and
Hayden glaciers, and is of such volume that it has apparently displaced
the sea and holds it back by a wall of débris deposited about its
margin. All of its central portion is of clear white ice, and around all its
margins, excepting where the Agassiz and Seward glaciers come in, it
is bounded by a fringe of débris and by moraines resting on the ice.
Along the seaward border the belt of fringing moraines is about five
miles broad. The inner margin of the moraine belt is composed of
rocks and dirt, without vegetation, and separated more or less
completely into belts by strips of clear ice. On going from the clear ice
toward the margin of the glacier one finds shrubs and flowers
scattered here and there over the surface. Farther seaward the
vegetation becomes more dense and the flowers cover the whole
surface, giving it the appearance of a luxuriant meadow. Still farther
toward the margin dense clumps of alder, with scattered spruce trees,
become conspicuous, while on the outer margin spruce trees of larger
size form a veritable forest. That this vegetation actually grows on the
moraines above a living glacier is proved beyond all question by holes
and crevasses which reveal the ice beneath. The curious lakes
scattered abundantly over the moraine-covered areas, and occupying
hour-glass-shaped depressions in the ice, have already been described.

From the southern end of the Samovar hills, where the Seward and
Agassiz glaciers unite, there is a compound moraine stretching
southward, which divides at its distal extremity and forms great curves
and swirl-like figures indicating currents in the glacier.

All the central part of the plateau is, as already stated, of clear white
ice, free from moraines; at a distance it has the appearance of a broad
snow surface. This is due to the fact that the ice is melted and honey-
combed during the warm summer and the surface becomes vesicular
and loses its banded structure. A rough, coral-like crust, due to the
freezing of the portions melted during the day, frequently covers large
areas and resembles a thick hoar-frost. Crevasses are numerous, but
seldom more than a few feet deep. They appear to be the lower
portions of deep crevasses in the tributary streams which have partially
closed, or else not completely removed by the melting and evaporation
of the surface.

Many of the crevasses are filled with water, but there are no surface
streams and no lakes. Melting is rapid during the warm summer days,
but the water finds its way down into the glacier and joins the general
subglacial drainage. It is evident that the streams beneath the surface
must be of large size, as they furnish the only means of escape for the
waters flowing beneath the Agassiz, Seward and Marvine glaciers, as
well as for the waters formed by the melting of the great Malaspina
glacier.

The outer borders of the Malaspina glacier are practically stationary,

but there are currents in its central part. Like the expanded ends of
some of the Alpine glaciers, as the Galiano and Lucia glaciers, for
example, this glacier is of the nature of a delta of ice, analogous in
many of its features to river deltas. As a stream in meandering over its
delta builds up one portion after another, so the currents in an
expanded ice-foot may now follow one direction and deposit loads of
débris, and then slowly change so as to occupy other positions. This
action tends to destroy the individuality of morainal belts and to form
general sheets of débris. The presence of such currents as here
suggested has not been proved by measurements, but the great swirls
in the Malaspina glacier and the tongues of clear ice in the upper
portions of the débris fields on the smaller glaciers strongly suggest
their existence.

The Malaspina glacier is evidently not eroding its bed; any records that
it is making must be by deposition. Should the glacier melt away
completely, it is evident that a surface formed of glacial débris, and
very similar to that now existing in the forested plateau east of Yakutat
bay, would be revealed.

The former extent of the Malaspina glacier cannot be determined, but

it is probable that during its greatest expansion it extended seaward
until deep water was reached, and broke off in bergs in the same
manner as do the Greenland glaciers at the present day. Soundings in
the adjacent waters might possibly determine approximately the
former position of the ice-front, and it is possible that submarine
moraines might be discovered in this way. The Pimpluna reefs,
reported by Russian navigators and indicated on many maps, may
possibly be a remnant of the moraine left by the Piedmont glacier from
the adjacent coast.

The glaciers west of Icy bay were seen from the top of Pinnacle pass
cliffs, and are evidently of the same character as the Malaspina glacier
and fully as extensive. A study of these Piedmont glaciers will certainly
throw much light on the interpretations of the glacial records over
northeastern North America. Their value in this connection is enhanced
by the fact that they are now retreating and making deposits rather
than removing previous geological records.

The expedition of last summer was a hasty reconnoissance, during

which but little detail work could be undertaken. The actual study of
the ice-fields of the St. Elias region remains for those who come later.
 PART V.

HEIGHT AND POSITION OF MOUNT ST. ELIAS.

The height and position of Mount St. Elias have been measured several
times during the past century with varying results. The measurements
made prior to the expedition of 1890 have been summarized and
discussed by W. H. Dall, of the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey, and little more can be done at present than give an abstract of
his report.

The various determinations are shown in the table below. The data
from which these results were obtained have not been published, with
the exception of the surveys made by the United States Coast Survey
in 1874, printed in report of the superintendent for 1875.

Height and Position of Mount St. Elias.

Longitude
Date. Authority. Height. Latitude.
W.
60° 15' 140° 10'
1786 La Pérouse 12,672 feet
00" 00"
60° 17' 140° 52'
1791 Malaspina 17,851 feet
35" 17"
60° 22' 140° 39'
1794 Vancouver ——
30" 00"
Russian Hydrographic Chart 60° 21' 141° 00'
1847 17,854 feet
1378 00" 00"
60° 22' 140° 54'
1847 Tebenkof (Notes) 16,938 feet
36" 00"
60° 21' 140° 54'
1849 Tebenkof (Chart VII) 16,938 feet
30" 00"
60° 17' 140° 51'
Buch. Can. Inseln 16,758 feet
30" 00"
 60° 21' 141° 00'
1872 English Admiralty Chart 2172 14,970 feet
00" 00"
19,500 60° 20' 141° 00'
1874 U. S. Coast Survey
±400 45" 12"

All of the figures given in the table have been copied from Dall's report,
with the exception of the position determined by Malaspina; this is
from a report of astronomical observations made during Malaspina's
voyage, which places the mountain in latitude 60° 17' 35" and
longitude 134° 33' 10" west of Cadiz.36 Taking the longitude of Cadiz as
6° 19' 07" west of Greenwich, the figures tabulated above are
obtained.
36 Ante, p. 65.

It was intended that Mr. Kerr's report, forming Appendix B, should

contain a detailed record of the triangulation executed last summer,
but a careful revision of his work by a committee of the National
Geographic Society led to the conclusion that the results were not of
sufficient accuracy to set at rest the questions raised by the
discrepancies in earlier measurements of the height of Mount St. Elias;
and as the work will probably be revised and extended during the
summer of 1891, only the map forming plate 8 will be published at this
time. Some preliminary publications of elevations have been made, but
these must be taken as approximations merely.37
37 The shore-line of the map, plate 8, and the positions of the initial points or base-line
of the triangulation are from the work of the United States Coast Survey. The extreme
western portion is from maps published by the New York Times and Topham expeditions.
All the topographic data are by Mr. Kerr, and all credit for the work and all responsibility
for its accuracy rest with him. The nomenclature is principally my own, and has been
approved by a committee of the National Geographic Society.

By consulting the map forming plate 8 it will be seen that Mounts

Cook, Vancouver, Irving, Owen, etc., are not in the St. Elias range.
Neither do they form a distinct range either topographically or
geologically. Each of these mountains is an independent uplift,
although they may have some structural connection, and are of about
the same geological age. Mount Cook and the peaks most intimately
associated with it are composed mainly of sandstone and shale
belonging to the Yakutat system. Mounts Vancouver and Irving are
probably of the same character, but definite proof that this is the case
has not been obtained.

The St. Elias uplift is distinct and well marked, both geologically and
topographically, and deserves to be considered as a mountain range.
The limits of the range have not been determined, but, so far as
known, its maximum elevation is at Mount St. Elias. The range
stretches away from this culminating point both northeastward and
northwestward, and has a well-marked V-shape. The angle formed by
the two branches of the range where they unite at Mount St. Elias is,
by estimate, about 140°. Each arm of the V is determined by a fault,
or perhaps more accurately by a series of faults having the same
general course, along which the orographic blocks forming the range
have been upheaved. The structure of the range is monoclinal, and
resembles the type of mountain structure characteristic of the great
basin. The dip of the tilted blocks is northward.

The crest of the St. Elias range, as already stated, is composed of

schists which rest on sandstone, supposed to belong to the Yakutat
system. The geological age of the uplift is, therefore, very recent. The
secondary topographic forms on the crest of the range have resulted
from the weathering of the upturned edges of orographic blocks in
which the bedding planes are crossed by joints. The resulting forms
are mainly pyramids and roof-like ridges with triangular gables.
Extreme ruggedness and angularity characterize the range throughout.
There are no rounded domes or smoothed and polished surfaces to
suggest that the higher summits have ever been subjected to general
glacial action; neither is there any evidence of marked rock decay.
Disintegration of all the higher peaks and crests is rapid, owing
principally to great changes of temperature and the freezing of water
in the interstices of the rock; but the débris resulting from this action is
rapidly carried away by avalanches and glaciers, so that the crests as
well as the subordinate features in the sculpture of the cliffs and
pyramids are all angular. The subdued and rounded contour, due to the
accumulation of the products of disintegration and decay, the
indications of the advancing age of mountains, are nowhere to be
seen. The St. Elias range is young; probably the very youngest of the
important mountain ranges on this continent. No evidences of erosion
previous to the formation of the ice-sheets that now clothe it have
been observed. Glaciers apparently took immediate possession of the
lines of depression as the mountain range grew in height, and furnish a
living example from which to determine the part that ice streams play
in mountain sculpture.

APPENDIX A.

OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS GOVERNING THE

EXPEDITION.

In order to make the records of the St. Elias expedition complete,

copies of the instructions under which the work was carried out are
appended:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, GEOLOGIC BRANCH,
Washington, D. C., May 28, 1890.

Mr. I. C. RUSSELL, Geologist.

SIR: You are hereby detailed to visit the St. Elias range of Alaska
for work of exploration, under the joint auspices of the National
Geographic Society and the United States Geological Survey. The
Geological Survey furnishes instruments and contributes the sum
of $1,000 towards the expenses of the expedition. The money
devoted to this purpose is taken from the appropriation for the
fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, and the manner of its
expenditure must conform to that fact.

The Survey expects that you will give special attention to glaciers,
to their distribution, to the associated topographic types, to
indications of the former extent of glaciation, and to types of
subaërial sculpture under special conditions of erosion, and that
you will also bring back information with reference to the age of
the formations seen and the type of structure of the range.

With the aid of Mr. Kerr, it is expected that you will secure definite
geographic information as to the belt of country traversed by you.

Very respectfully, G. K. GILBERT,

Chief Geologist.

Approved,
J. W. POWELL, Director.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, GEOLOGIC BRANCH,
Washington, D. C., May 28, 1890.

Mr. I. C. RUSSELL, Geologist.

SIR: You will proceed at the earliest practicable date to Tacoma,

Washington Territory, and thence by water to Sitka, Alaska, at
which point you will make special arrangements to visit the St.
Elias range of mountains and make geological examinations as per
instructions otherwise communicated. Mr. Mark B. Kerr, Disbursing
Agent, will report to you at Victoria, B. C., and accompany you on
the expedition, assisting you in the capacities of Disbursing Agent
and Topographer. On the completion of your work you will return
to Washington, the route being left to your discretion, to be
determined by considerations which cannot now be foreseen.

Very respectfully, G. K. GILBERT,

Chief Geologist.

Approved,
J. W. POWELL, Director.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, GEOLOGIC BRANCH,
Washington, D. C., May 28, 1890.

Mr. MARK B. KERR, Disbursing Agent.

SIR: You are hereby detailed to assist Mr. I. C. Russell, Geologist,

who starts at once on an expedition to Alaska, under the joint
auspices of the National Geographic Society and the United States
Geological Survey. It is expected that you will immediately aid him
in disbursement, and that you will act during the exploratory part
of the expedition as topographer. Your duties will, however, not be
limited to these special functions, but you will be expected to
perform any other duties he may assign to you, and to labor in
every way for the success of the expedition.

It is expected that you will be reappointed to the grade of

topographer on the United States Geological Survey on the 1st of
July, 1890, and you will please take the required oath of office
before your departure.
The money remaining in your possession as Disbursing Agent
includes that needed to meet Mr. Russell's salary and your own,
and also the sum of $1,000, allotted from the funds of the
Geographic Branch for expenses of the expedition prior to June
30. This amount you will expend as directed by Mr. Russell, and
his authority and certificate will need to accompany your vouchers
in rendering account of the same.

Very respectfully, G. K. GILBERT,

Chief Geologist.

Approved,
J. W. POWELL, Director.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, GEOLOGIC BRANCH,
Washington, D. C., May 28, 1890.

Mr. MARK B. KERR, Disbursing Agent.

SIR: You will proceed at once to San Francisco, California, and

thence by steamer or by rail and steamer to Sitka, Alaska. It is
expected that you will join Mr. I. C. Russell, Geologist, at Victoria,
B. C., or at Sitka; and you will report to him for further orders.

Very respectfully, G. K. GILBERT,

Chief Geologist.

Approved,
J. W. POWELL, Director.
 Washington, D. C., May 29, 1890.

Mr. MARK B. KERR, Topographer.

SIR: You are hereby assigned to field-work in the vicinity of Mount

St. Elias, Alaska, in the party under charge of Mr. I. C. Russell.
Upon the receipt of these instructions you will please proceed
without delay to the field, and map upon a scale of four miles to
an inch such territory in the vicinity of Mount St. Elias, including
that mountain, as the field season will permit. The work should, if
practicable, be controlled by triangulation. Special attention in the
course of your work should be given to measuring the altitude of
Mount St. Elias, and it should be determined by triangulation and
also, if practicable, by barometer in such manner as to be
conclusive.

The topographic work should be controlled by triangulation. As

many positions on this coast are approximately known, including a
number of the prominent peaks, astronomical determinations of
position will not be necessary unless needed to supplement the
triangulation.

The details of your outfitting and the management of the work will
be left to your own judgment.

Very respectfully, HENRY GANNETT,

Chief Topographer.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.

Memorandum of Instructions to the Party sent out under the

Direction of Mr. I. C. Russell, assisted by Mr. Mark B. Kerr, to
explore the Mount St. Elias Region, Alaska, 1890.
 The general object of the expedition is to make a geographic
reconnoissance of as large an area as practicable in the St. Elias
range, Alaska, including a study of its glacial phenomena, the
preparation of a map of the region explored, and the
measurement of the height of Mount St. Elias and other
neighboring mountains. Observations should also be made and
information collected on other subjects of general scientific
interest as far as practicable.

The purpose of these instructions is mainly to suggest the lines of

investigation that give promise of valuable results, but it is not
intended that they shall limit the director of the expedition in the
exercise of his own discretion.

GARDINER G. HUBBARD, Chairman,

MARCUS BAKER,
WILLARD D. JOHNSON,
Committee.

Washington, D. C., May 29, 1890.

APPENDIX B.

REPORT ON TOPOGRAPHIC WORK.

BY MARK B. KERR.

In addition to the ascent of Mount St. Elias, it was part of the original
plan of the expedition to make an accurate topographic map of the
region explored. It was not, however, for this purpose proposed to
divide the party or to deviate much from the most direct route to
Mount St. Elias from Yakutat bay. Triangulation of fair precision was
provided for. Details were to be filled in by approximate methods.

Field-work began June 20 by the careful measurement of a base-line,

3,850 feet in length, near the point of landing, on the northern shore
of Yakutat bay. Expansion was readily carried to the foot-hills, and
several horizontal angles were taken to an astronomical station of the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey at Port Mulgrave. In the
region of these initial triangles, work was done from a central camp;
and topographic details were fixed with considerable precision by
intersection and vertical angles.

After the departure of the expedition from the Base Line camp, an
accident to the transit made resort to an inferior instrument necessary,
and, furthermore, as the region traversed proved to be ill-adapted to,
and the line of travel too direct for, the proper development of a
narrow belt of triangles, the anticipation of a degree of precision in the
triangulation which would give high value to the determinations of
position and altitude of the several peaks was not realized; but
topographic map work, showing the general features, altitudes and
location of the mountain ranges, valleys and glaciers, was extended
over about 600 square miles.

Within the approximate geometric control, stations were interpolated

by the three-point method, and minor locations were multiplied by
intersection and connected by sketch. The best meander possible
under the circumstances was carried forward on the line of travel by
compass directions and estimates of distance from time intervals. The
work ceased August 22 with the abandonment of the instruments in a
snow-storm of four days' duration on the eastern slope of Mount St.
Elias.

The accompanying map (a reduction of which forms plate 8, page 75)

shows the ice-streams and peculiar mountain topography of a region
heretofore unvisited, and constitutes a considerable addition to the
geography of Alaska.

APPENDIX C.

REPORT ON AURIFEROUS SANDS FROM

YAKUTAT BAY.
BY J. STANLEY-BROWN.

Among the specimens obtained by Mr. I. C. Russell during the course

of his explorations on and about Mount St. Elias is a bottle of sand
procured from the beach on the extreme southern end of Khantaak
island, Yakutat bay, and characteristic of the shore material over a
large area. This sand was turned over to me for examination, and
additional interest was given to its study by the fact that it is from a
comparatively uninvestigated region and possesses, perhaps, economic
value; for the sample is gold-bearing, and it is said that a "color" can
readily be obtained by "panning" at many points on the bay shore.

Macroscopically, the sand has the appearance of ordinary finely

comminuted beach material; but it differs in the uniformity of the size
of its particles from beach sand from Fort Monroe and Sullivan island,
South Carolina, with which it was compared. Its mineralogic
constituents greatly surpass in variety those of the sands referred to,
but are markedly similar to those of gold-bearing sand from New
Zealand. At least twelve minerals are present, with an unusual
predominance of one, as will be noted later. Through the mixture of
white, green, and black grains, a dull greenish-black color is given to
the mass. The roundness of fragments is such as usually results from
water action, but it is less than that which results from transportation
by wind.

When put into a heavy liquid (Thoulet solution of a density of 3.1) in

order to determine the specific gravity of the constituents, it was found
that the sand is made up largely of the heavier materials, for the
amount that floated was trifling compared with that which quickly
sank. Even the abundant quartz was largely carried down by the
weightier ingredients bound up within it, and only a few water-clear
fragments were left behind. This would seem to suggest that the
lighter minerals are lacking in the neighboring rocks, or else have been
carried to greater distances by the sorting power of the water.

Among the minerals recognized, gold is the most important, though

relatively not abundant. It occurs in flakes or flattened grains from a
quarter to a half of a millimeter in size. The particles are sufficiently
numerous to be readily selected from their associates by the aid of
"panning" and a hand lens of good magnifying power, and if distributed
throughout the beach as plentifully as in the sample would, under
favorable conditions, pay for working. The flakes in their rounded
character show the effect of the agency which separated them from
their matrix; a separation so complete that no rock is found adhering
to the grains.

Magnetite is present in great abundance and in a finely divided state,

the largest grains not exceeding a millimeter in length. It forms by
weight alone 15 or 20 per cent. of the entire mass, and when the latter
is sifted through a sieve of a hundred meshes to the inch it constitutes
44 per cent. of this fine material. Crystallographic faces are rare, and
though often marred, still octahedrons (111, 1) of considerable
perfection are found.

Garnet occurs in such profusion that a pink tint is given to a mass of

selected grains of uniform size, and its predominance may be
considered the chief physical characteristic of the sand.

Two species were noted: one is a brilliant wine-red variety, which,

though not nearly so numerous as its duller relative, occurs more
frequently in crystals—the trapezohedral faces (211, 2–2)
predominating. The other garnet is readily distinguished by its lighter
amethystine tint and its greater abundance. Crystallographic faces are
somewhat rare and invariably dodecahedral (110, i). In the absence of
chemical analyses, any statements as to the exact species to which
these garnets should be referred would be largely conjectural.
Attention is quickly drawn to the perfection of these minute garnets in
their crystallographic faces and outlines, and to their association with
rounded fragments of their own kind as well as of other minerals. Have
these crystals survived by reason of their hardness or by favoring
conditions, or does their preservation suggest the impotency of wave-
action in the destruction of minute bodies?

Among the black, heavy grains occur individuals which, except in shape
and non-magnetic character, resemble magnetite. On crushing
between glass slides, thin slivers are obtained which in transmitted
light are green, and which, from their cleavage, pleochroism, high
index of refraction, small extinction angle, and insolubility in acid, are
readily recognized as hornblende.

Two groups of grains were noted which are distinguishable by slight

variation in color. Both are clear-yellowish green, but one is somewhat
darker than the other. The optical properties of both indicate pyroxene
and possibly olivine. Fortunately a fragment was obtained in the
orthodiagonal zone nearly normal to an optic axis which gave an axial
figure of sufficient definiteness to indicate its optically positive
character. A number of grains were selected from minerals of both
colors and subjected to prolonged heating in hydrochloric acid without
decomposition, indicating that both minerals are pyroxene.

A few zircons, a fraction of a millimeter in size but perfect in form,

were found associated with others rounded on their solid angles and
edges. The crystals are of the common short form and bear the usual
faces in a greater or less degree of development. Pyramids of the first
and second order alternate in magnitude; pinacoid encroaches upon
prism, and vice versa.