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V.—On the Courses of the Landwasser and the Landquart

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Extract

Cases of relatively recent change in the courses of rivers, due to the invasion of their valleys by neighbouring and more rapidly working streams and the consequent diversion of their waters, have been investigated of late years by an increasing number of geologists in different countries. Such phenomena are, of course, most frequent in mountain districts, and the Swiss Alps have yielded many examples of greater or less certainty. Some cases are evident and undeniable; others are difficult to decide upon, and need careful consideration of all available evidence; while in yet other instances it is possible that statements as to the occurrence of such changes have been accepted on inadequate authority. The generally received opinion as to the present and past relationship of the Landwasser and the Landquart can certainly not be included in the last category, but neither can it, I think, be rightly placed in the first.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1899

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References

page 260 note 1 The streams are the Mönchalpbach and the Stützbach; the result of their confluence I have called the Lareterbach, but find that on some maps it is called the Stützbach down to Klosters.

page 261 note 1 “Mechanismus der Gebirgsbildung,” p. 321.Google Scholar

page 262 note 1 London, 1898, p. 190.Google Scholar

page 262 note 2 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. liv; 08, 1898.Google Scholar

page 263 note 1 “Scenery of Switzerland,” p. 192.Google Scholar

page 265 note 1 Jennings, Vaughan, “On the Structure of the Davos Valley”: Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. liv (1898)Google Scholar

page 267 note 1 I have been several times asked what date may be attributed to the former extension of the lake towards Frauenkirch, but I am not aware of any evidence on which conclusions can be based. The infilling of the old lake by detritus from the mountain sides and material brought down by the streams must have been going on since its earliest days, but it is probable that the final disappearance of standing water from parts of the Davos level is a very recent matter. The peat at the southern end seems modern, and above the Davos-Frauenkirch road the talus slopes contain a considerable quantity of peaty material near the surface. At the northern end, I am told that the Fluela discharged into the lake within the memory of those still living. It is said also that the Eomans used the Fluela Pass as a route between the Pratigau and the Engadine, and the finding of Roman remains at Drusatcha suggests that they traversed the ridge at that point and passed round the shoulder of the Seehorn. This is not likely to have been their route if they could have crossed in the neighbourhood of Dorf. The name Wolfgang itself is said to represent the fact that the ridge formed the path of wolves from the eastern mountains, and this also seems to suggest that the foot of the Fluela valley was recently closed by the waters of the lake.

page 267 note 2 The results of this survey are embodied in a paper read before the Geological Society on May 10th, 1899.

page 271 note 1 Thus, the direction of the Fluela, Dischma, and Sertig is exactly the same ai that of the eastern tributaries of the Inn, such as the Bernina and Chamuera. Again, their relationship to the present Lareterbach and the Landquart may be exactly paralleled north of the Rhätikon by the conditions existing between the Valzavenz and Vergalda, the Gargellenthal and the Montafun.