On the Last Elevation of the Alps; with Notices of the Heights at which the Sea has left Traces of its Action on their Sides

Abstract

In the following pages I have attempted to show, that, after the Alps had assumed their present form, and when they already stood as much above the surrounding lowlands as at present, they must have been nearly submerged below the sea, out of which their rise must have been, by a series of steps or starts of unequal amount, separated by long intervals of time. The evidence on which these views rest is derived from three sources; 1st, from the traces of erosion on the sides of the mountains, ending upwards in lines of uniform level; 2ndly, from the levels to which the valleys have been excavated; 3rdly, from the elevation of the terraces of alluvium in the valleys; and lastly, from the harmony of the results obtained from these three sets of observations, when compared together.