The Fiord Region of Greenland

Publication Year: 1935.

The Fiord Region of Greenland, by Louise A. Boyd. New York: The American Geographical Society.

Edited by a modest feminine explorer, a readable account of a region overflowing with unique examples of geological and physiographic features, this admirably illustrated book casts over the reader something of that same spell in which Miss Boyd has long been held by the Arctic.

Divided into chapters written by several individuals, Miss Boyd’s introductory chapter, which conducts the reader through the ice barrier safely to Greenland’s mainland, is a gem, and in comparison, the detailed descriptions by the other suffer slightly from lack of her personal sparkle of enthusiasm. These descriptions, the real meat of the book to the explorer or student, are systematic, and the entire book is well indexed.

Two subjects—the driftwood supposedly from Siberia on Jan Mayen Island, and the phenomena which throw light on the origin of the fiords—might have been given more space in the book. The chapter on photogrammetric surveying with its criticisms on equipment, will be of great value to other travellers.

The quality and number of illustrations are easily the outstanding feature of the book. They show views of deltas, fans, raised beaches ; almost every phase of glaciology ; remarkable examples of folded strata; faults; and many views of the general topography of Greenland. If only the old text books on geology had such a fine selection of illustrations to draw upon, at least one more student might have turned for his life work to that fascinating young science, geology.

J. E. F.