From the mines of Schemnitz he was informed that, so long as the free
passage of air was not hindered, the mines remained temperate; in other
cases they were very warm. Another great advantage which some glacieres
possess must be borne in mind, namely, the collection of snow at the
bottom of the pit in which the entrance lies. This snow absorbs, in the
course of melting, all heat which strikes down by radiation or is driven
down by accidental turns of the wind; and the snow-water thus forced
into the cave will, at any rate, not seriously injure the ice. It is
worthy of notice that the two caves which possess the greatest depth of
ice, so far as I have been able to fathom it, are precisely those which
have the greatest deposit of snow; and the ice in a third cave, that of
Monthezy, which has likewise a large amount of snow in the entrance-pit,
presents the appearance of very considerable depth. The Schafloch, it is
true, which contains an immense bulk of ice, has no snow; but its
elevation is great, as compared with that of some of the caves, and
therefore the mean temperature of the rock in which it occurs is less
unfavourable to the existence of ice.
Pages:
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471