The Globe on Which We Live
We read in the first words of the book of Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." We are not told how far back that beginning was, and it would do us no particular good if we did know. Even a geologist, though he has studied rock formation, the work of winds and waters, and the like, cannot be exact in his figures. His guesses are based on the supposition that changes have always taken place in the world at about the same speed as such changes now occur. Maybe they did and maybe they did not. Most geologists reckon the earth to be millions of years old.
A map of the earth's surface when land and water first took definite form would probably look much different from the way it does today. Four times great ice masses formed at the north, ground their way southward, and then melted. We can see today the marks of the movements of these glaciers in many parts of North America and Europe. Indeed, we can tell their southern limits by the boulders and stones which they brought with them and left on the earth's surface. It is possible that the Great Lakes of North america were formed during this glacial period. (215 words)
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