The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XII, No. 2 [‎281v] (65/154)

152 AN EXPLORATION IN 1897 OF SOME OF THE GLACIERS OF SPITSBERGEN.
la our explorations in the more glaciated district further to the north last
summer, about which Sir Martin has told you to-night, we found scenery of a
markedly different type.
Rising as they do through the inland ice system, whose surface in the interior
of King James Land stands at a height of upwards of 3000 feet, the mountain ridges
stand out with sharp and cleanly cut contours. These nunataks show a marked
absence of the denudation curve alluded to above, and their bold and precipitous
outlines are evidently the work of frost alone. This is especially apparent in the
range of peaks of which the Three Crowns form the most westerly outliers (Fig. 3).
Without entering into the detailed geology of the district, it is interesting to
note the influence exerted by the geological structure on scenery sculptured by
frost alone. This influence is much more marked here than it is in a humid
climate, where the surface features have been carved by the action of water.
FIG. 3.— THE THREE CROWNS, KING’S GLACIER.
I he terminal pyramids of the Three Crowns are composed of carboniferous
dolomite, lying nearly horizontally, and traversed by well-marked vertical joints.
It is along these planes that the action of frost is most marked, resulting in the pro
duction of perpendicular cliffs, frequently quite inaccessible. A sharp line can, how
ever, be drawn at the base of this formation, where it rests on the purple Devonian
(Silurian ?) shales. In the latter formation, the absence of joints and the friable
nature of the shales has resulted in the formation of gentle scree slopes, forming
an angle of some 140° with the limestone cliff above. It is thus that we have pro-
duced^the characteristic rock forms to which the name of the Three Crowns has been
so aptiy applied. 1 he clean-cut diadems of golden dolomite cushioned on the purple
folds of their Devonian pedestals stand like silent monuments of vanished empires.
It is always pleasant to meet old friends, and the fossils enclosed in the lime
stones recalled days spent on the slopes of Ingelboro’, while the fish remains
entombed in the Devonian shales had close affinities with the classical collections
from the Old Red Sandstone of our own islands.