The Mountains of California by John Muir, The Glaciers. Chapter II, Part 1

The Glaciers. Chapter II, Part 1

Of the small residual glaciers mentioned in the preceding chapter, I have found sixty-five in that portion of the range lying between latitude 36° 30' and 39°. They occur singly or in small groups on the north sides of the peaks of the High Sierra, sheltered beneath broad frosty shadows, in amphitheaters of their own making, where the snow, shooting down from the surrounding heights in avalanches, is most abundant. Over two thirds of the entire number lie between latitude 37° and 38°, and form the highest fountains of the San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne, and Owen's rivers.

The glaciers of Switzerland, like those of the Sierra, are mere wasting remnants of mighty ice-floods that once filled the great valleys and poured into the sea. So, also, are those of Norway, Asia, and South America. Even the grand continuous mantles of ice that still cover Greenland, Spitsbergen, Nova Zembla, Franz-Joseph-Land, parts of Alaska, and the south polar region are shallowing and shrinking. Every glacier in the world is smaller than it once was. All the world is growing warmer, or the crop of snow-flowers is diminishing. But in contemplating the condition of the glaciers of the world, we must bear in mind while trying to account for the changes going on that the same sunshine that wastes them builds them. Every glacier records the expenditure of an enormous amount of sun-heat in lifting the vapor for the snow of which it is made from the ocean to the mountains, as Tyndall strikingly shows.

The changes that have taken place in the glacial conditions of the Sierra from the time of greatest extension is well illustrated by the series of glaciers of every size and form extending along the mountains of the coast to Alaska. A general exploration of this instructive region shows that to the north of California, through Oregon and Washington, groups of active glaciers still exist on all the high volcanic cones of the Cascade Range,--Mount Pitt, the Three Sisters, Mounts Jefferson, Hood, St. Helens, Adams, Rainier, Baker, and others,--some of them of considerable size, though none of them approach the sea. Of these mountains Rainier, in Washington, is the highest and iciest. Its dome-like summit, between 14,000 and 15,000 feet high, is capped with ice, and eight glaciers, seven to twelve miles long, radiate from it as a center, and form the sources of the principal streams of the State. The lowest-descending of this fine group flows through beautiful forests to within 3500 feet of the sea-level, and sends forth a river laden with glacier mud and sand. On through British Columbia and southeastern Alaska the broad, sustained mountain-chain, extending along the coast, is generally glacier-bearing. The upper branches of nearly all the main cañons and fiords are occupied by glaciers, which gradually increase in size, and descend lower until the high region between Mount Fairweather and Mount St. Elias is reached, where a considerable number discharge into the waters of the ocean. This is preëminently the ice-land of Alaska and of the entire Pacific Coast.

Northward from here the glaciers gradually diminish in size and thickness, and melt at higher levels. In Prince William Sound and Cook's Inlet many fine glaciers are displayed, pouring from the surrounding mountains; but to the north of latitude 62° few, if any, glaciers remain, the ground being mostly low and the snowfall light. Between latitude 56° and 60° there are probably more than 5000 glaciers, not counting the smallest. Hundreds of the largest size descend through the forests to the level of the sea, or near it, though as far as my own observations have reached, after a pretty thorough examination of the region, not more than twenty-five discharge icebergs into the sea. All the long high-walled fiords into which these great glaciers of the first class flow are of course crowded with icebergs of every conceivable form, which are detached with thundering noise at intervals of a few minutes from an imposing ice-wall that is thrust forward into deep water. But these Pacific Coast icebergs are small as compared with those of Greenland and the Antarctic region, and only a few of them escape from the intricate system of channels, with which this portion of the coast is fringed, into the open sea. Nearly all of them are swashed and drifted by wind and tide back and forth in the fiords until finally melted by the ocean water, the sunshine, the warm winds, and the copious rains of summer. Only one glacier on the coast, observed by Prof. Russell, discharges its bergs directly into the open sea, at Icy Cape, opposite Mount St. Elias. The southernmost of the glaciers that reach the sea occupies a narrow, picturesque fiord about twenty miles to the northwest of the mouth of the Stikeen River, in latitude 56° 50'. The fiord is called by the natives "Hutli," or Thunder Bay, from the noise made by the discharge of the icebergs. About one degree farther north there are four of these complete glaciers, discharging at the heads of the long arms of Holkam Bay. At the head of the Tahkoo Inlet, still farther north, there is one; and at the head and around the sides of Glacier Bay, trending in a general northerly direction from Cross Sound in latitude 58° to 59°, there are seven of these complete glaciers pouring bergs into the bay and its branches, and keeping up an eternal thundering. The largest of this group, the Muir, has upward of 200 tributaries, and a width below the confluence of the main tributaries of about twenty-five miles. Between the west side of this icy bay and the ocean all the ground, high and low, excepting the peaks of the Fairweather Range, is covered with a mantle of ice from 1000 to probably 3000 feet thick, which discharges by many distinct mouths.

[Illustration: MOUNT RAINIER FROM PARADISE VALLEY--NISQUALLY GLACIER.]

This fragmentary ice-sheet, and the immense glaciers about Mount St. Elias, together with the multitude of separate river-like glaciers that load the slopes of the coast mountains, evidently once formed part of a continuous ice-sheet that flowed over all the region hereabouts, and only a comparatively short time ago extended as far southward as the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, probably farther. All the islands of the Alexander Archipelago, as well as the headlands and promontories of the mainland, display telling traces of this great mantle that are still fresh and unmistakable. They all have the forms of the greatest strength with reference to the action of a vast rigid press of oversweeping ice from the north and northwest, and their surfaces have a smooth, rounded, overrubbed appearance, generally free from angles. The intricate labyrinth of canals, channels, straits, passages, sounds, narrows, etc. between the islands, and extending into the mainland, of course manifest in their forms and trends and general characteristics the same subordination to the grinding action of universal glaciation as to their origin, and differ from the islands and banks of the fiords only in being portions of the pre-glacial margin of the continent more deeply eroded, and therefore covered by the ocean waters which flowed into them as the ice was melted out of them. The formation and extension of fiords in this manner is still going on, and may be witnessed in many places in Glacier Bay, Yakutat Bay, and adjacent regions. That the domain of the sea is being extended over the land by the wearing away of its shores, is well known, but in these icy regions of Alaska, and even as far south as Vancouver Island, the coast rocks have been so short a time exposed to wave-action they are but little wasted as yet. In these regions the extension of the sea effected by its own action in post-glacial time is scarcely appreciable as compared with that effected by ice-action.

Traces of the vanished glaciers made during the period of greater extension abound on the Sierra as far south as latitude 36°. Even the polished rock surfaces, the most evanescent of glacial records, are still found in a wonderfully perfect state of preservation on the upper half of the middle portion of the range, and form the most striking of all the glacial phenomena. They occur in large irregular patches in the summit and middle regions, and though they have been subjected to the action of the weather with its corroding storms for thousands of years, their mechanical excellence is such that they still reflect the sunbeams like glass, and attract the attention of every observer. The attention of the mountaineer is seldom arrested by moraines, however regular and high they may be, or by cañons, however deep, or by rocks, however noble in form and sculpture; but he stoops and rubs his hands admiringly on the shining surfaces and trios hard to account for their mysterious smoothness. He has seen the snow descending in avalanches, but concludes this cannot be the work of snow, for he finds it where no avalanches occur. Nor can water have done it, for he sees this smoothness glowing on the sides and tops of the highest domes. Only the winds of all the agents he knows seem capable of flowing in the directions indicated by the scoring. Indians, usually so little curious about geological phenomena, have come to me occasionally and asked me, "What makeum the ground so smooth at Lake Tenaya?" Even horses and dogs gaze wonderingly at the strange brightness of the ground, and smell the polished spaces and place their feet cautiously on them when they come to them for the first time, as if afraid of sinking. The most perfect of the polished pavements and walls lie at an elevation of from 7000 to 9000 feet above the sea, where the rock is compact silicious granite. Small dim patches may be found as low as 3000 feet on the driest and most enduring portions of sheer walls with a southern exposure, and on compact swelling bosses partially protected from rain by a covering of large boulders. On the north half of the range the striated and polished surfaces are less common, not only because this part of the chain is lower, but because the surface rocks are chiefly porous lavas subject to comparatively rapid waste. The ancient moraines also, though well preserved on most of the south half of the range, are nearly obliterated to the northward, but then material is found scattered and disintegrated.

A similar blurred condition of the superficial records of glacial action obtains throughout most of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, due in great part to the action of excessive moisture. Even in southeastern Alaska, where the most extensive glaciers on the continent are, the more evanescent of the traces of their former greater extension, though comparatively recent, are more obscure than those of the ancient California glaciers where the climate is drier and the rocks more resisting.

These general views of the glaciers of the Pacific Coast will enable my readers to see something of the changes that have taken place in California, and will throw light on the residual glaciers of the High Sierra.

Prior to the autumn of 1871 the glaciers of the Sierra were unknown. In October of that year I discovered the Black Mountain Glacier in a shadowy amphitheater between Black and Rod Mountains, two of the peaks of the Merced group. This group is the highest portion of a spur that straggles out from the main axis of the range in the direction of Yosemite Valley. At the time of this interesting discovery I was exploring the _névé_ amphitheaters of the group, and tracing the courses of the ancient glaciers that once poured from its ample fountains through the Illilouette Basin and the Yosemite Valley, not expecting to find any active glaciers so far south in the land of sunshine.

The Glaciers. |los glaciares Die Gletscher. Kapitel II, Teil 1 The Glaciers. Los glaciares. Capítulo II, Parte 1 Les glaciers. Chapitre II, partie 1 I ghiacciai. Capitolo II, Parte 1 氷河第二章前編 빙하 2장, 파트 1 De gletsjers. Hoofdstuk II, Deel 1 Lodowce. Rozdział II, część 1 Os glaciares. Capítulo II, Parte 1 Ледники. Глава II, часть 1 Buzullar. Bölüm II, Kısım 1 Льодовики. Розділ II, частина 1 冰川。第二章，第 1 部分 Chapter II, Part 1

Of the small residual glaciers mentioned in the preceding chapter, I have found sixty-five in that portion of the range lying between latitude 36° 30' and 39°. ||||glaciares|||||||||||||||||||| Dos pequenos glaciares residuais mencionados no capítulo anterior, encontrei sessenta e cinco na parte da cordilheira situada entre os 36° 30' e os 39° de latitude. They occur singly or in small groups on the north sides of the peaks of the High Sierra, sheltered beneath broad frosty shadows, in amphitheaters of their own making, where the snow, shooting down from the surrounding heights in avalanches, is most abundant. ||individually|||||||||||||||Sierra Nevada|||||||natural basins|||||||||||||||||| ||individualmente|||||||||||||||||||heladas|||anfiteatros|||||||||||||||||| Ocorrem isoladamente ou em pequenos grupos nos lados norte dos picos da High Sierra, abrigados sob amplas sombras geladas, em anfiteatros criados por eles próprios, onde a neve, que desce das alturas circundantes em avalanches, é mais abundante. Over two thirds of the entire number lie between latitude 37° and 38°, and form the highest fountains of the San Joaquin, Merced, Tuolumne, and Owen’s rivers. |||||||||||||||||||Joaquin|Merced|Tuolumne River||Owen| |||||||||||||||||||San Joaquín|Merced|||Owen|

The glaciers of Switzerland, like those of the Sierra, are mere wasting remnants of mighty ice-floods that once filled the great valleys and poured into the sea. |los glaciares|||||||||||restos desvanecidos||poderosos||||||||||||| Lodowce Szwajcarii, podobnie jak te w Sierra, są jedynie marnującymi się pozostałościami po potężnych powodziach lodowych, które niegdyś wypełniały wielkie doliny i wlewały się do morza. Os glaciares da Suíça, tal como os da Serra, são meros vestígios de poderosas inundações de gelo que outrora encheram os grandes vales e se derramaram no mar. So, also, are those of Norway, Asia, and South America. Even the grand continuous mantles of ice that still cover Greenland, Spitsbergen, Nova Zembla, Franz-Joseph-Land, parts of Alaska, and the south polar region are shallowing and shrinking. ||||ice sheets|||||||Svalbard archipelago|||||||||||||||becoming shallower|| ||||mantos|||||||Spitsbergen|||||||||||||||se están haciendo más superficiales|| Até mesmo os grandes mantos contínuos de gelo que ainda cobrem a Gronelândia, Spitsbergen, Nova Zembla, Franz-Joseph-Land, partes do Alasca e a região polar sul estão a diminuir e a encolher. Every glacier in the world is smaller than it once was. |glaciar||||||||| All the world is growing warmer, or the crop of snow-flowers is diminishing. O mundo inteiro está a aquecer, ou a colheita de flores da neve está a diminuir. But in contemplating the condition of the glaciers of the world, we must bear in mind while trying to account for the changes going on that the same sunshine that wastes them builds them. |||||||los glaciares|||||||||||||||||||||||||| Mas ao contemplar o estado dos glaciares do mundo, devemos ter em mente, ao tentar explicar as mudanças em curso, que a mesma luz do sol que os destrói os constrói. Every glacier records the expenditure of an enormous amount of sun-heat in lifting the vapor for the snow of which it is made from the ocean to the mountains, as Tyndall strikingly shows. ||||expenditure|||||||||||||||||||||||||||Tyndall|| ||||витрата||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |glaciar||||||||||||||vapor de agua||||||||||||||||Tyndall|de manera notable| Cada glaciar regista o dispêndio de uma enorme quantidade de calor solar para elevar do oceano para as montanhas o vapor para a neve de que é feito, como Tyndall demonstra de forma impressionante.

The number of glaciers in the Alps, according to the Schlagintweit brothers, is 1100, of which 100 may be regarded as primary, and the total area of ice, snow, and _névé_ is estimated at 1177 square miles, or an average for each glacier of little more than one square mile. ||||||||||Schlagintweit brothers||||||||||||||||||firn|||||||||||||||||| |||glaciares|||||||hermanos Schlagintweit||||||||||||||||||névé|||||||||||glaciares||||||| On the same authority, the average height above sea-level at which they melt is about 7414 feet. The Grindelwald glacier descends below 4000 feet, and one of the Mont Blanc glaciers reaches nearly as low a point. |Grindelwald|||||||||mount|White||||||| |Гріндельвальд||||||||||||||||| |Grindelwald|glaciar||||||||||glaciares|||||| El glaciar de Grindelwald desciende por debajo de los 1.000 metros, y uno de los glaciares del Mont Blanc alcanza un punto casi tan bajo. O glaciar de Grindelwald desce abaixo dos 4000 pés, e um dos glaciares do Monte Branco atinge um ponto quase tão baixo. One of the largest of the Himalaya glaciers on the head waters of the Ganges does not, according to Captain Hodgson, descend below 12,914 feet. ||||||||||||||Ganga||||||Hodgson||| |||||||glaciares|||||||||||||Hodgson||| The largest of the Sierra glaciers on Mount Shasta descends to within 9500 feet of the level of the sea, which, as far as I have observed, is the lowest point reached by any glacier within the bounds of California, the average height of all being not far from 11,000 feet. |||||glaciares||||||||||||||||||||||||||||glaciar|||límites||||||||||||

The changes that have taken place in the glacial conditions of the Sierra from the time of greatest extension is well illustrated by the series of glaciers of every size and form extending along the mountains of the coast to Alaska. ||||||||glacial||||||||||||||||||glaciares|||||||||||||| A general exploration of this instructive region shows that to the north of California, through Oregon and Washington, groups of active glaciers still exist on all the high volcanic cones of the Cascade Range,--Mount Pitt, the Three Sisters, Mounts Jefferson, Hood, St. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||Jefferson Mountain|| |||||інструктивний||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||instructiva||||||||||||||||glaciares||||||||conos volcánicos|||Cascada|||||||los montes||| Helens, Adams, Rainier, Baker, and others,--some of them of considerable size, though none of them approach the sea. Helens||Rainier|||||||||||||||| ||||||||||значного розміру|||||||| Helens|||||||||||||||||| Of these mountains Rainier, in Washington, is the highest and iciest. ||||||||||coldest ||||||||||más helada Destas montanhas, Rainier, em Washington, é a mais alta e a mais gelada. Its dome-like summit, between 14,000 and 15,000 feet high, is capped with ice, and eight glaciers, seven to twelve miles long, radiate from it as a center, and form the sources of the principal streams of the State. |||||||||cubierta de|||||glaciares||||||se irradian|||||||||||||ríos principales||| O seu cume em forma de cúpula, entre 14.000 e 15.000 pés de altura, está coberto de gelo, e oito glaciares, com sete a doze milhas de comprimento, irradiam dele como um centro, e formam as fontes dos principais riachos do Estado. The lowest-descending of this fine group flows through beautiful forests to within 3500 feet of the sea-level, and sends forth a river laden with glacier mud and sand. |||||||||||||||||||||||||glaciar||| |||||||||||||||||||||||навантажений||||| A descida mais baixa deste belo grupo flui através de belas florestas até cerca de 3500 pés do nível do mar, e envia um rio carregado de lama e areia glaciar. On through British Columbia and southeastern Alaska the broad, sustained mountain-chain, extending along the coast, is generally glacier-bearing. |||||southeastern|||||||||||||| |||||sudeste de|||||||||||||glaciar| Ao longo da Colúmbia Britânica e do sudeste do Alasca, a cadeia montanhosa ampla e sustentada, que se estende ao longo da costa, é geralmente glaciar. The upper branches of nearly all the main cañons and fiords are occupied by glaciers, which gradually increase in size, and descend lower until the high region between Mount Fairweather and Mount St. ||||||||||fjords|||||||||||||||||||Fairweather||| ||||||||cañones||fiordos||||glaciares|||||||||||||||||| Os ramos superiores de quase todos os principais cañons e fiordes são ocupados por glaciares, que aumentam gradualmente de tamanho e descem até à região alta entre o Monte Fairweather e o Monte St. Elias is reached, where a considerable number discharge into the waters of the ocean. Elias||||||||||||| |||||||se descargan|||||| This is preëminently the ice-land of Alaska and of the entire Pacific Coast. ||primarily||||||||||| ||preeminentemente|||||||||||

Northward from here the glaciers gradually diminish in size and thickness, and melt at higher levels. ||||glaciares||||||grosor||||| A partir daqui, para norte, os glaciares diminuem gradualmente de tamanho e espessura e derretem a níveis mais elevados. In Prince William Sound and Cook’s Inlet many fine glaciers are displayed, pouring from the surrounding mountains; but to the north of latitude 62° few, if any, glaciers remain, the ground being mostly low and the snowfall light. |||||Cook's|inlet|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||snow fall| ||||||||чудові|||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||inlet|||glaciares|||||||||||||||||glaciares|||||||||| No Prince William Sound e na Cook's Inlet, existem muitos glaciares de qualidade, provenientes das montanhas circundantes; mas a norte da latitude 62°, existem poucos ou nenhuns glaciares, sendo o solo maioritariamente baixo e a queda de neve ligeira. Between latitude 56° and 60° there are probably more than 5000 glaciers, not counting the smallest. ||||||||glaciares|||| Hundreds of the largest size descend through the forests to the level of the sea, or near it, though as far as my own observations have reached, after a pretty thorough examination of the region, not more than twenty-five discharge icebergs into the sea. |||||move down||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||descargan icebergs|||| Centenas de icebergues do maior tamanho descem através das florestas até ao nível do mar, ou perto dele, embora, até onde as minhas próprias observações chegaram, depois de um exame bastante minucioso da região, não mais de vinte e cinco icebergues descarregam no mar. All the long high-walled fiords into which these great glaciers of the first class flow are of course crowded with icebergs of every conceivable form, which are detached with thundering noise at intervals of a few minutes from an imposing ice-wall that is thrust forward into deep water. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||thundering||||||||||||||||||| ||||muro de hielo|fiordos|||||glaciares||||||||||||||||||se desprenden||estruendoso|||||||||||||||empujado hacia adelante|||| Todos os longos fiordes de paredes altas, nos quais desembocam estes grandes glaciares de primeira classe, estão naturalmente repletos de icebergues de todas as formas imagináveis, que se desprendem com um ruído estrondoso, a intervalos de alguns minutos, de uma imponente parede de gelo que é empurrada para águas profundas. But these Pacific Coast icebergs are small as compared with those of Greenland and the Antarctic region, and only a few of them escape from the intricate system of channels, with which this portion of the coast is fringed, into the open sea. |||||||||||||||Antarctic region||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||intrincado||||||||||||bordes adornados|||| Nearly all of them are swashed and drifted by wind and tide back and forth in the fiords until finally melted by the ocean water, the sunshine, the warm winds, and the copious rains of summer. |||||washed|||||||||||||||||||||||||||abundant||| |||||змішалися|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||desplazadas||||||mareas||||||fiordos|||||||||||||||copiosas lluvias||| Quase todas elas são arrastadas pelo vento e pela maré para trás e para a frente nos fiordes até serem finalmente derretidas pela água do oceano, pelo sol, pelos ventos quentes e pelas chuvas abundantes do verão. Only one glacier on the coast, observed by Prof. Russell, discharges its bergs directly into the open sea, at Icy Cape, opposite Mount St. ||||||||||||icebergs||||||||||| ||||||||||||айсберги||||||||||| ||glaciar||||||||descarga||icebergs|||||||Cabo Helado|||| Russell, descarrega os seus bergs diretamente para o mar alto, em Icy Cape, em frente ao Monte St. Elias. The southernmost of the glaciers that reach the sea occupies a narrow, picturesque fiord about twenty miles to the northwest of the mouth of the Stikeen River, in latitude 56° 50'. |||||||||||||fjord||||||||||||Stikine||| |más austral||||||||||||fiordo||||||noroeste||||||río Stikeen||| O mais meridional dos glaciares que chegam ao mar ocupa um estreito e pitoresco fiorde a cerca de vinte milhas a noroeste da foz do rio Stikeen, na latitude 56° 50'. The fiord is called by the natives "Hutli," or Thunder Bay, from the noise made by the discharge of the icebergs. |||||||Hutli||||||||||||| |||||||Hutli||trueno||||||||descarga||| About one degree farther north there are four of these complete glaciers, discharging at the heads of the long arms of Holkam Bay. |||||||||||||||||||||Holkam| |||||||||||glaciares completos|descargando agua|||||||||Holkam Bay| At the head of the Tahkoo Inlet, still farther north, there is one; and at the head and around the sides of Glacier Bay, trending in a general northerly direction from Cross Sound in latitude 58° to 59°, there are seven of these complete glaciers pouring bergs into the bay and its branches, and keeping up an eternal thundering. |||||glacier|Bay entrance|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||Tahkoo Inlet|inlet||||||||||||||||Glaciar||||||norteño||||||||||||||glaciares completos||icebergs||||||||||||estruendo eterno The largest of this group, the Muir, has upward of 200 tributaries, and a width below the confluence of the main tributaries of about twenty-five miles. ||||||Muir River||||||||||meeting point||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||притоки||||| ||||||Muir||||afluentes||||||confluencia||||afluentes||||| O maior deste grupo, o Muir, tem mais de 200 afluentes, e uma largura abaixo da confluência dos principais afluentes de cerca de vinte e cinco milhas. Between the west side of this icy bay and the ocean all the ground, high and low, excepting the peaks of the Fairweather Range, is covered with a mantle of ice from 1000 to probably 3000 feet thick, which discharges by many distinct mouths. |||||||||||||||||excluding|||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||випускає|||| ||||||helada|||||||||||excepto las||||||||||||||||||||se descarga||||

[Illustration: MOUNT RAINIER FROM PARADISE VALLEY--NISQUALLY GLACIER.] ||||||Nisqually Glacier| ||||||glaciar Nisqually|

This fragmentary ice-sheet, and the immense glaciers about Mount St. |incomplete||||||||| |fragmentaria||||||glaciares inmensos||| Elias, together with the multitude of separate river-like glaciers that load the slopes of the coast mountains, evidently once formed part of a continuous ice-sheet that flowed over all the region hereabouts, and only a comparatively short time ago extended as far southward as the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, probably farther. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||in this area|||||||||||||||||||of Juan||Juan de Fuca|| |||||||||glaciares||||||||||||||||||||||||por aquí|||||||||||||||||estrecho||||Juan de Fuca|| Elias, juntamente com a multiplicidade de glaciares separados, semelhantes a rios, que carregam as encostas das montanhas da costa, evidentemente fizeram parte de um manto de gelo contínuo que fluiu por toda a região e que, há relativamente pouco tempo, se estendia até à foz do Estreito de Juan de Fuca, provavelmente mais para sul. All the islands of the Alexander Archipelago, as well as the headlands and promontories of the mainland, display telling traces of this great mantle that are still fresh and unmistakable. |||||||||||prominent landforms||headlands|||||||||||||||| |||||||||||cabezas de tierra||promontorios|||||||||||||||| They all have the forms of the greatest strength with reference to the action of a vast rigid press of oversweeping ice from the north and northwest, and their surfaces have a smooth, rounded, overrubbed appearance, generally free from angles. ||||||||||||||||||||overarching||||||||||||||overpolished||||| ||||||||||||||||||||excesiva||||||noroeste||||||||sobrerroceadas||||| Todos eles têm as formas de maior resistência com referência à ação de uma vasta prensa rígida de gelo espalhado do norte e noroeste, e suas superfícies têm uma aparência lisa, arredondada, coberta, geralmente livre de ângulos. The intricate labyrinth of canals, channels, straits, passages, sounds, narrows, etc. ||||canals||straits|||| |intrincado|laberinto||||estrechos|||estrechos| O intrincado labirinto de canais, canais, estreitos, passagens, sons, estreitamentos, etc. between the islands, and extending into the mainland, of course manifest in their forms and trends and general characteristics the same subordination to the grinding action of universal glaciation as to their origin, and differ from the islands and banks of the fiords only in being portions of the pre-glacial margin of the continent more deeply eroded, and therefore covered by the ocean waters which flowed into them as the ice was melted out of them. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||ice age|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||||||subordinación|||||||glaciación universal||||||||||||||fiordos||||||||glacial|||||||erosionadas||||||||||||||||||| The formation and extension of fiords in this manner is still going on, and may be witnessed in many places in Glacier Bay, Yakutat Bay, and adjacent regions. |||||||||||||||||||||||Yakutat|||| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||суміжні регіони| |||||||||||||||||||||Glaciar||Yakutat|||| That the domain of the sea is being extended over the land by the wearing away of its shores, is well known, but in these icy regions of Alaska, and even as far south as Vancouver Island, the coast rocks have been so short a time exposed to wave-action they are but little wasted as yet. ||||||||||||||||||costas|||||||heladas||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| In these regions the extension of the sea effected by its own action in post-glacial time is scarcely appreciable as compared with that effected by ice-action. ||||||||caused||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||glacial||||apreciable||||||||

Traces of the vanished glaciers made during the period of greater extension abound on the Sierra as far south as latitude 36°. |||||||||||||||mountain range||||| ||||glaciares||||||||abundan|||||||| Even the polished rock surfaces, the most evanescent of glacial records, are still found in a wonderfully perfect state of preservation on the upper half of the middle portion of the range, and form the most striking of all the glacial phenomena. |||||||transient|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||evanescentes||glacial|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||glacial| They occur in large irregular patches in the summit and middle regions, and though they have been subjected to the action of the weather with its corroding storms for thousands of years, their mechanical excellence is such that they still reflect the sunbeams like glass, and attract the attention of every observer. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||eroding||||||||||||||||rays of sunlight||||||||| |||||ділянках|||||||||||||||||||||корозійні||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||parches|||||||||||||||||||||corrosivos||||||||||||||||rayos de sol||||||||| Ocorrem em grandes manchas irregulares nas regiões do cume e do meio e, embora tenham sido sujeitas à ação do tempo com as suas tempestades corrosivas durante milhares de anos, a sua excelência mecânica é tal que ainda reflectem os raios solares como vidro e atraem a atenção de qualquer observador. The attention of the mountaineer is seldom arrested by moraines, however regular and high they may be, or by cañons, however deep, or by rocks, however noble in form and sculpture; but he stoops and rubs his hands admiringly on the shining surfaces and trios hard to account for their mysterious smoothness. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||bends|||||with admiration||||||formations|||||||sleekness |||||||||морени|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||montañista|||||||||||||||cañones|||||||||||escultura|||se inclina||frota|||con admiración|||||||||||||suavidad misteriosa A atenção do montanhista raramente é detida por morenas, por mais regulares e altas que sejam, ou por cañons, por mais profundos que sejam, ou por rochas, por mais nobres que sejam na forma e na escultura; mas ele inclina-se e esfrega as mãos com admiração nas superfícies brilhantes e trios difíceis de explicar a sua misteriosa suavidade. He has seen the snow descending in avalanches, but concludes this cannot be the work of snow, for he finds it where no avalanches occur. Nor can water have done it, for he sees this smoothness glowing on the sides and tops of the highest domes. ||||||||||suavidad|brillante|||||cimas||||cúpulas Only the winds of all the agents he knows seem capable of flowing in the directions indicated by the scoring. ||||||||||||fluyendo||||||| Só os ventos de todos os agentes que ele conhece parecem capazes de fluir nas direcções indicadas pela pontuação. Indians, usually so little curious about geological phenomena, have come to me occasionally and asked me, "What makeum the ground so smooth at Lake Tenaya?" |||||||||||||||||make it|||||||Tenaya Lake |||||||||||||||||робить||||||| |||||||||||||||||hace que||||||| Os índios, normalmente tão pouco curiosos acerca dos fenómenos geológicos, vieram ter comigo ocasionalmente e perguntaram-me: "O que torna o solo tão liso no Lago Tenaya?" Even horses and dogs gaze wonderingly at the strange brightness of the ground, and smell the polished spaces and place their feet cautiously on them when they come to them for the first time, as if afraid of sinking. |||||in awe||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||con asombro||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| The most perfect of the polished pavements and walls lie at an elevation of from 7000 to 9000 feet above the sea, where the rock is compact silicious granite. ||||||sidewalks|||||||||||||||||||silica|silicious granite |||||||||||||||||||||||||кремнієвий| ||||||pavimentos pulidos||||||||||||||||||compacto|silicatos|granito silicioso Small dim patches may be found as low as 3000 feet on the driest and most enduring portions of sheer walls with a southern exposure, and on compact swelling bosses partially protected from rain by a covering of large boulders. ||||||||||||most arid||||||||||||||||rock formations|||||||||| |||||||||||||||стійких||||||||||||||||||||||| ||parches|||||||||||||duraderas|||||||||||compactos||||||||||||rocas grandes Pequenas manchas escuras podem ser encontradas até 3000 pés de altitude nas porções mais secas e resistentes de paredes íngremes com uma exposição a sul, e em bossas compactas e inchadas parcialmente protegidas da chuva por uma cobertura de grandes rochas. On the north half of the range the striated and polished surfaces are less common, not only because this part of the chain is lower, but because the surface rocks are chiefly porous lavas subject to comparatively rapid waste. ||||||||grooved||||||||||||||||||||||||permeable volcanic|||||| ||||||||потерті||||||||||||||||||||||||пористі|||||| ||||||||estriadas|||||||||||||||||||||||principalmente|porosas|lavas porosas||||| Na metade norte da cordilheira, as superfícies estriadas e polidas são menos comuns, não só porque esta parte da cadeia é mais baixa, mas também porque as rochas superficiais são principalmente lavas porosas sujeitas a um desgaste relativamente rápido. The ancient moraines also, though well preserved on most of the south half of the range, are nearly obliterated to the northward, but then material is found scattered and disintegrated. ||||||||||||||||||erased|||||||||||broken down |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||desintegrado ||||||||||||||||||знищені|||||||||||

A similar blurred condition of the superficial records of glacial action obtains throughout most of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, due in great part to the action of excessive moisture. |||||||||||exists||||||||||||||||||| ||розмита|||||||||існує||||||||||||||||||| ||difusa|||||||glacial||se presenta|||||||||||||||||||humedad excesiva Um estado semelhante de indefinição dos registos superficiais da ação glaciar verifica-se na maior parte do Oregon, Washington, Colúmbia Britânica e Alasca, devido em grande parte à ação da humidade excessiva. Even in southeastern Alaska, where the most extensive glaciers on the continent are, the more evanescent of the traces of their former greater extension, though comparatively recent, are more obscure than those of the ancient California glaciers where the climate is drier and the rocks more resisting. |||||||||||||||fleeting||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||ефемерні||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||sudeste|||||||||||||efímeras|||||||||||||||||||||glaciares||||||||||

Prior to the autumn of 1871 the glaciers of the Sierra were unknown. ||||||los glaciares||||| In October of that year I discovered the Black Mountain Glacier in a shadowy amphitheater between Black and Rod Mountains, two of the peaks of the Merced group. ||||||||||||||natural basin||||||||||||Merced group| ||||||||||glaciar|||sombrío|anfiteatro||||Rod Mountains||||||||| Em outubro desse ano, descobri o Glaciar Black Mountain num anfiteatro sombrio entre as Montanhas Black e Rod, dois dos picos do grupo Merced. This group is the highest portion of a spur that straggles out from the main axis of the range in the direction of Yosemite Valley. ||||||||ridge extension||extends spreads|||||||||||||| ||||||||відгалуження|||||||||||||||| ||||||||prominencia montañosa||se extiende|||||||||||||| Este grupo é a parte mais alta de um esporão que se afasta do eixo principal da cordilheira em direção ao Vale de Yosemite. At the time of this interesting discovery I was exploring the _névé_ amphitheaters of the group, and tracing the courses of the ancient glaciers that once poured from its ample fountains through the Illilouette Basin and the Yosemite Valley, not expecting to find any active glaciers so far south in the land of sunshine. ||||||||||||glacial formations|||||||||||||||||||||Illilouette Basin|||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||anfiteatros|||||||||||glaciares antiguas||||||||||Illilouette|cuenca|||||||||||glaciares antiguas|||||||| ||||||||||the|||||||||||||||||||щедрих|||||||||||||||||||||||| Na altura desta interessante descoberta, eu estava a explorar os anfiteatros _névé_ do grupo e a traçar os cursos dos antigos glaciares que outrora jorravam das suas amplas fontes através da Bacia de Illilouette e do Vale de Yosemite, não esperando encontrar quaisquer glaciares activos tão a sul na terra do sol.