saussure's

Updated: June 8, 2025

In M. de Saussure's Journey to the Alps, we have now seen a description of the shape that had been given to things, by those operations in which strata had been consolidated and elevated above the sea; nothing but disorder and confusion seems to have presided in those causes, by which this mass of continent had been exposed to the sight of men; and nature, it would appear, had nothing in view besides the induration, the consolidation, and the elevation of that mass into the snowy regions of the atmosphere.

James Hutton - Theory of the Earth, Volume 2 (of 4)

Bertrand supposed that electrified clouds might locally attract and elevate the waters of the lake, and thus produce oscillations of level. H.B. de Saussure, in 1799, attributed the phenomenon to rapid local variations of atmospheric pressure on different parts of the lake. J.P.E. Vaucher, in 1802 and 1804, adopted de Saussure's explanation, and confirmed it by many excellent observations.

George Wharton James - The Lake of the Sky: Lake Tahoe in the High Sierras of California and Nevada, its History, Indians, Discovery by Frémont, Legendary Lore, Various Namings, Physical Characteristics, Glacial Phenomena, Geology, Single Outlet, Automobile Routes, Historic Towns, Early Mining Excitements, Steamer Ride, Mineral Springs, Mountain and Lake Resorts, Trail and Camping Out Trips, Summer Residences, Fishing, Hunting, Flowers, Birds, Animals, Trees, and Chaparral, with a Full Account of the Tahoe National Forest, the Public Use of the Water of Lake Tahoe and Much Other Interesting Matter