Chautauqua Grape Belt. 



137 



the beach sand and gravel only to a very short distance from the 

 shore line ; but the clay that is worn away by the waves passes in 

 suspension for a considerable distance from the shore line before 

 settling to the bottom. During windy days the waters imme- 

 diately off shore are clouded with sediment. Fishermen know 

 that at a distance of only a few yards from the shore the lake 

 bottom is almost everywhere covered with clay or sandy clay. 

 The sonndings made by the United States Engineers, who have 

 surveyed the bottom of Lake Erie, show that a muddy bottom is 

 the prevailing feature. 



When the lake w^aters reached to the height of the gravel ridges, 

 the region below this was naturally a place for the deposit of clay. 





-"' *.^ '.1 'V ' '■ ■"■1 vij.i^>i'f -v^*-- 



57.— Section through thtt upper beach at Westfield, shovN ing stratiflcatiun of pebbles and sand. 



While some pebbles may have been drifted away by the ice, and 

 dropped to the bottom away from the shore, the clay was in most 

 places free from large fragments. In some places, particularly 

 opposite the mouths of streams, the clay might be replaced by sand 

 .for a considerable distance from the coast. An examination of the 

 soil between the northernmost gravel ridge and the lake shore, shows 

 that these features exist. 



A layer of clay, varying in depth from a few inches to several 

 feet, is spread over most of the region west of Silver Creek and 

 north of the gravel ridges. Oftentimes it rests on the bed rock, 

 barely covering it : in other cases it is found above the true 

 boulder clay, and in some stream cuts one may often see a bed of 

 dense boulder clay upon which rests a foot or two of clay, which 



