Page:How and Why Library 096.jpg

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A bed of peat, showing where it has been cut out and used for fuel; also small stacks of peat piled up to dry.

Every part of this earth story is going on today. Volcanoes still burn, earthquakes still lift and crack and fold the rocky floor of the ocean. You remember the terrible earthquakes we have had. They shook down great cities. The earth under them was lifted a little, or dropped a little. One volcano poured out melted rock, or lava and granite, and buried a city. Some seacoasts are slowly sinking, some rising. Small islands come up or disappear. The valleys are being filled up, the mountains worn down by water, wind, frost, men, animals and plants. Tons and tons of mud and sand are being carried out to the ocean every day, to be turned into stone again. Sea animals are dying, and dropping their bones and shells to the ocean floor. Isn't it a wonderful story? Don't all these things mean a great deal more to you than they did before? See Geology.

This picture shows a volcano in action. The hollow top is the crater from which rocks and lava have been thrown out, and a stream of lava is flowing down the side.