There is general agreement among climatologists that broad uplifts of continents and localized uplifts of mountain masses reduce temperature and create conditions for the formation of glaciers.

This hypothesis, which usually applies to changes in oceanic circulation, was proposed before the fact of interglacial periods was ascertained.

The sequence of glacial and interglacial periods demands that there should be frequently repeated topographic changes associated with extensive periods of mountain building and subsequent erosion. No independent evidence exists to prove it.

However, topographic changes of vast magnitude bring about changes in the oceanic and atmospheric circulations. Such changes may greatly affect the climate.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

In Chamberlin’s view, as in ours, the elevation of the land, the modification of the currents of the air and of the oceans, and all that goes with elevation as a topographic agency constitutes a primary cause of climatic changes”.