ICE AGE IN AUSTRALIA.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17224, 15 August 1921, Page 5

ICE AGE IN AUSTRALIA.

NEW SCIENTIFIC DIS6OVEBY. A bulky pebble, curiously scratched and furrowed by lines that to all appearance, might have bee ll made J> v a steel comb, was among- the weighty geological treasures brought to Melbourne by Professor Sir Edgeworth David, of Sydney', who recently returned to Adelaide from a brief exploratory north of- Oodnadatta. To the layman the pebble was not .at all imposing. The ordinary man would have jettisoned it from his luggage at the first convenient spot. But to the geologist it presented features of the greatest interest. It was a link with that period, millions of years ago, when vast masses of ice, similar to the berge and floea of the Polar regions, lay over a greater rcart of the continent, extending t» its very centre and beyond; and the apparently insignificant scratches were the marks of grinding ice masses. Yet it was picked up in a plain which nowadays is often a centre of scorching heat and whirling hot sandstorms. The scientific party which accomplished tha recent trip was comp 6ed of Professor David, Professor H. Howchin (of Adelaide), and Captain S. A. White (ornithologist and botanist), the first two having been specially selected by the Australasian Association for tho Advancement of Science to conduct the research work in connexion with the examination of these glacial phenomena and geological traces of the ice age. Eeports that these phenomena were to be found were made some years ago by Professor Sir Baldwin Spencer, but comparatively little was known of them. The deposits occur at Yellow Cliff and Dalhou3 ; .e, and the discoveries made by the research party will be of importance to geologists and scientists generally, as they promise to throw some new light upon the movement of the ice, and possibly upon the glacial period. Professor David, speaking of the expedition, described these ice-age phenomena as being_ of magnificent extent, and extremely imposing, especially in the neighbourhood of Cliff. "Striated," or furrowed, boulders and rocks marked by ice were found by the party in plenty, while it was possible to see how vast masses of reck had been ploughed up by the moving ice. Altogether the evidences of glacial action were extraordinarily impressive, and Professor David declared that even on the South Polar explorations upon which he and Sir Douglas Mawson were engaged no evidence of glacial action was, he believed, seen on so great a scale as that found on these Australian plains, which in the ages past must have been lonely stretches of thick iye. Altogether the results of the expedition are regarded as highly satisfactory, in view of the fact that it occupied only some three weeks, during which period some 400 miles were covered in. a waggonette. During 'the trip special attention was also eivea.bv the party to the geol>

gical phenomena connected with the western portion of the great artesian ! basin. In the past there has been I very considerable controversy regarding the source of the water which lies below. the plains in this basin, and which may be tapped by bores. Some geologists, Professor David, pointed out, maintain that the water which comos j from the artesian, bores and through i natural outlets such as mud springs is | of deep-seated origin. Other geologists had argued that the s ourco of tho water was rain which foil directly on j the porous - sandstone around the mar- | gins of the basin, or which, in the form ! of creek or river water, drains over the j surfaca of the porous beds, and finds its way by percolation into the deeper part of the oasin. Evidence gathered by the geologists on the present trip was to the effect that there was an oxtensive area of sandstone on the west side of the artesian basin, from the junction of the Finke River with Goydon River. The fact that those sandstones were very soft and porous, ar.d that large rivers such as the Finke and Stevenson's drained over, their surface, carrying great volumes of water after heavy rains, showed that important sources of supply to the western side of the artesian basin must "come from . thoVe rivers. There could bo -no doubt that very important feeders of water to th© western side came in from the area between the Musgrave ■ and McDonnell ranges. Professor David considered that there could be no doubt that north of Charlotte Waters and towsrds Hergott Springs, now known as' Springs, there were great possibilities of securing good supplies of water. Tho fact that this water ie of the

greatest value in the growing of first- ! class vegetables has been proved, and, I incidentally, the research party had tho opportunity of seeing how these central plains recuperate and flourish when soaked with water. At Charlotte Waters, where the usual rainfall ia about 3iin per annum, there had been, j Professor David stated, no fewer than i 20in in eighteen months —a _ rainfall I that had net bebn equalled in forty years. Plains -which, were normally travefsed by hot winds and sandstorms • i were covered with grass and plant life. I and sandhills were boufcd topethor by nbundnnt nnd flourishing vegetation and by wild flowers, which were gac-iierec in hundreds by the party for Iroxnnca purposes. Incidentally, David referred to the fact that a. tru wild tobacco flourishes on thete plai'' s in great quantity, and this and a ce - tain poison plant are the ° f tli« plants to survive a severe drought ,tfid are then often eaten bv starvmK sto k with dire results. Although the wilct fn-hncoo can be .chewed by a human being, stock entmcr it dje a pam.nl death "Age.