THE ABANDONED SHORELINES OF THE VERMILION 

 QUADRANGLE, OHIO^ 



Frank Carney 



The literature contains a few references specifically to the 

 raised beaches of this sheet. One is by M. C. Read^ who published 

 a cross-section of some terraces near Berlin Heights; another is 

 by E. E. Wright^ whose map of the lake ridges in Lorain and Cuya- 

 hoga counties roughly locates some of the ridges east of the Ver- 

 milion River; and they have been studied in places by F. Leverett* 

 who briefly describes them. 



Compared with adjacent sheets, the Vermilion has an irregular 

 surface. The position of the Berea sandstone accounts for this 

 fact; this formation outcrops across the northern part of the 

 quadrangle (fig. 1), and its escarpment has been made very irreg- 

 ular by ancient stream erosion; as a result, many outliers exist. 

 The area contains one major stream, the Vermilion River, which 

 during post-glacial times has easily made a new base-level for 

 many of the illy defined pre-glacial valleys. Should the history of 

 this river be worked out, it is probable that its channel will be 

 found, in parts at least, to represent pre- Wisconsin stream work. 



From the level of Lake Erie, 573 feet, the surface of the sheet 

 rises rapidly to the south. Away from the axis of the Vermilion 

 River, the 800-foot contour nowhere is more than six miles south 

 of the lake. Because of this fact, the abandoned shore lines are 

 close together; they are found usually within a limit of two miles. 

 These raised beaches lie so close together here because the Berea 

 formation is so very thick. At the South Amherst quarries, which 

 are located one and a half miles southeast of Brownhelm, the Berea 

 has a thickness of over 200 feet. I have no data as to the exact 



1 Read by title before Section E of the American Association for Advancement 

 of Science, Boston, Dec, 1909, with the permission of the State Geologist of Ohio. 

 The author is responsible for the facts given. 



' Geological Surt ey of Ohio, vol. iii, p. 289. 1878. 



* Ibid., vol. ii, map opposite p. 58. 1874. 



* Monograph, xli, United States Geological Survey, pp. 732-733, 751. 1902. 



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