394 Frank Carney 



Cuyahoga river. This river has a remarkable course. Its remot- 

 est source is not far from Lake Erie. Thence it flows south and 

 west; near Cuyahoga Falls it turns to the north, entering the lake 

 at Cleveland. One at once recognizes something irregular in 

 this drainage pattern. Possibly glaciation has had much to do 

 with its course; from Cuyahoga falls northward the river occupies 

 a very mature valley. This maturity is such as would lead one to 

 infer a genesis in connection with a much longer stream. At 

 some time in the past a river which had its origin far south flowed 

 northward, along the route taken by the canal to Akron (p. 391); 

 and the present Cuyahoga occupies only the northern end of 

 this former course. The south-flowing section of the Cuyahoga, 

 starting in Geauga county, drains at first a hilly region, but from 

 the vicinity of Kent its course lies in a level country. This 

 flat plain contains many small lakes and swamps, and is obviously 

 of glacial outwash and morainic origin. The falls occur where 

 this northern section of the Cuyahoga turns into the valley of 

 the former stream. Between Cuyahoga Falls and Cleveland 

 some local irregularities in the river have been introduced through 

 glacial interference. 



Rocky river. The headwaters of this short stream are found 

 in Medina county, whence it flows in two main branches that 

 unite north of Berea. These tributaries have their origin in the 

 more irregular topography of the Pennsylvanian rocks. At Berea 

 and Olmsted Falls both branches have a waterfall, due to the 

 Berea sandstone. Between these falls and the lake, the Rocky 

 river occupies a gorge cut in the Cleveland and Erie shales. North- 

 ward from the point where the branches come together, the 

 present channel flows twice across the channel occupied by a 

 preglacial ancestral stream, which is called the Preglacial Rocky 

 river. There is no more obvious case of drainage change in the 

 state than this river. 



Black river. This stream rises in Ashland county, flowing 

 thence to Medina ; west of Lodi it turns to the north and crosses 

 Lorain county. The change of direction in Medina county 

 appears to be due to an east-west moraine, to which the river is 

 parallel. South of Grafton the river commences to flow on the 

 Berea sandstone. Owing to the gentle dip of the Berea, it con- 

 tinues in this formation to Elyria. From Elyria northward to 

 within about a mile of the lake the stream follows a rock channel 



