Artic Home of the Aryans by Lokamanya Bal ... - Mandhata Global

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of the conclusions he draws from these authorities is that the present
islands of the Arctic Ocean, such as the two mentioned above are
simply mountain-tops still remaining above the surface of the sea
which has come in and covered up the primeval continent to which
they belonged. That an extensive circum-polar continent existed in
Miocene times seems to have been conceded by all geologists, and
though we cannot predicate its existence in its entirety during the
Pleistocene period, yet there are good reasons to hold that a different
configuration of land and water prevailed about the North Pole during
the Inter-Glacial period, and that as observed by Prof. Geikie, the
Paleolithic man, along with other Quaternary animals, freely ranged
over the whole of the Arctic regions in those times. Even now there is
a considerable tract of land to the north of the Arctic circle, in the old
world, especially in Siberia and there is evidence to show that it once
enjoyed a mild and temperate climate. The depth of the Arctic Ocean
to the north of Siberia is at present, less than a hundred fathoms, and
if great geographical changes took place in the Pleistocene period, it
is not unlikely that this tract of land, which is now submerged, may
have been once above the level of the sea. In other words there are
sufficient indications of the existence of a continent round about the
North-Pole before the last Glacial period.
As regards climate, we have seen that during the Inter-Glacial
period there were cool summers and warm winters even within the
Arctic Circle. Sir Robert Ball gives us a good idea of the genial
character of this climate by reducing to figures the distribution of heatunits
over summers and winters. A longer summer, with 229 heatunits
spread over it, and a shorter winter of 136 heat-units, would
naturally produce a climate, which according to Herschel, would be
“an approach to perpetual spring.” If the Paleolithic man, therefore,
lived in these regions during the Inter-Glacial period, he must have
found it very pleasant, in spite of the fact that the sun went below his
horizon for a number of days in a year according to the latitude of the
place. The present