IV.—On the Glacial Epoch of Great Britain

Extract

It must be admitted that if during the Glacial period an arctic current, similar to that which now sweeps along the east coast of North America, were to pass over the submerged portions of our island, there is no reason why the climate of this country should not assimilate to that of Labrador, where there is now perpetual frozen ground in the latitude of Liverpool. The question then is, what evidence have we that such a current existed at the commencement of the Glacial epoch ? Have we not the evidence of the striæ on the rocks and mountains of the Scandinavian peninsula, as well as on those of our own country, to show that, during the period of the submergence of these districts, icebergs were driven by an arctic current from the north-east to the south-west ?—that the Polar Sea extended from the White Sea to the entrance of the Baltic, spreading southward over Germany to the confines of Switzerland, which can be traced by the deposited boulders and other ice-transported materials ? Then, as to the cause of this return current. It must be evident that the Gulf-stream at that date could not have flowed in its present direction. The arctic current coming down the Baltic must have thrown it further to the west, so that in all probability in its northern progress it would impinge on the east coast of Greenland and the Island of Spitzbergen; then being deflected by the polar ice, it would return by the way of the White Sea and the Baltic, so completing the circuit.