Edinburgh
Geological
Society |
 |
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Edinburgh
Geologist
- Issue no 38 - Spring
2002
|
Louis
Agassiz - postscript
The original article
relating to Agassiz Rock, which appeared in the Autumn 2001 issue
of The
Edinburgh Geologist, was not part of the What's in a
Name? series but this letter does refer to a place named after
him, so it seemed right to publish it here:
| Dear Alan
The most recent edition of The Edinburgh Geologist
arrived yesterday... I was particularly interested in the piece about Agassiz
as his name is perpetuated in Canada in ëLake Agassizí. Holmes refers to
it in his textbook (1st edition, p. 242):
To the north-west [of the Great
Lakes] another series of lakes originated in much the same way, beginning
their history as marginal lakes which coalesced into a gigatic sheet of
water referred to as Lake Agassiz. The flat-lying sediments of the floor
of this vanished lake form the rich wheatlands of North Dakota and Manitoba.
At first, Lake Agassiz drained into the Mississippi, but lower outlets
were uncovered to the north later on, and the vast lake was reduced to
remnants, including Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba and The Lake of the Woods.
This is of partcular interest to me as our daughter
and family live 200 miles north-west of Winnipeg off the flat land which
extends about 50 miles from Winnipeg in that direction. Perhaps an article
on Agassiz might be an idea.
Yours,
Alyn Jones
|
Well, perhaps an article on Louis Agassiz
might be an idea. David Land referred to his tour of Scotland in the last
issue and Mike Taylor makes mention of his visit in relation to Hugh Miller's
fossil fish localities and collections. Are there any volunteers? |
|
|