﻿FINGER 
  LAKES 
  FAIECHILD 
  291 
  

  

  probably 
  the 
  most 
  notable 
  in 
  the 
  world. 
  That 
  may 
  sound 
  like 
  

   American 
  bravado, 
  but 
  the 
  challenge 
  stands. 
  Starting 
  witli 
  tlie 
  

   upper 
  Tonawanda 
  (Attica) 
  Valley 
  on 
  the 
  west, 
  and 
  passing 
  eastward, 
  

   the 
  other 
  pronounced 
  valleys 
  are: 
  Oatka 
  (Warsaw) 
  ; 
  Genesee; 
  Cone- 
  

   sus; 
  Herjilock; 
  Gaimdice; 
  Honeoye; 
  Mud 
  Creek 
  (Bristol) 
  ; 
  Canan- 
  

   daigua; 
  Flint 
  Creek 
  (Gorham-Orleans) 
  ; 
  Kenka; 
  Seneca; 
  Cayuga; 
  

   Owasco; 
  Skaneateles; 
  Otisco; 
  Onondaga; 
  Butternut 
  (Jamesville) 
  ; 
  

   Limestone 
  (Fayetteville) 
  ; 
  Chittenango; 
  Cowaselon; 
  Oneida. 
  The 
  

   valleys 
  which 
  now 
  hold 
  lakes 
  are 
  marked 
  by 
  italics. 
  (See 
  fig. 
  1.) 
  

  

  All 
  these 
  valleys 
  drain 
  northward 
  into 
  Lake 
  Ontario. 
  The 
  series 
  

   might 
  fairly 
  include 
  a 
  number 
  west 
  of 
  tlie 
  Tonawanda, 
  that 
  swing 
  

   around 
  into 
  Lake 
  Erie, 
  and 
  others 
  on 
  the 
  east 
  which 
  lead 
  into 
  the 
  

   Mohawk 
  River. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  valleys, 
  as 
  the 
  Oatka, 
  Genesee, 
  and 
  

   Flint, 
  once 
  held 
  lakes 
  that 
  are 
  now 
  represented 
  by 
  plains. 
  

  

  The 
  making 
  of 
  these 
  north-leading 
  valleys 
  is 
  a. 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  story 
  

   which 
  makes 
  demand 
  on 
  the 
  scientific 
  imagination. 
  The 
  historj^ 
  

   covers 
  the 
  many 
  millions 
  of 
  years 
  since 
  central 
  and 
  western 
  New 
  

   York 
  were 
  permanently 
  lifted 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  sea. 
  The 
  clear 
  record 
  of 
  

   the 
  long 
  marine 
  submergence 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  rock 
  strata, 
  several 
  thou- 
  

   sand 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness, 
  filled 
  with 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  varied 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  seas. 
  Remnants 
  of 
  the 
  nearly 
  horizontal 
  strata 
  constitute 
  the 
  

   broad, 
  arching 
  ridges 
  between 
  the 
  valleys, 
  with 
  elevations 
  up 
  to 
  over 
  

   2,000 
  feet 
  above 
  sea 
  level. 
  The 
  valleys 
  are 
  the 
  positive 
  effect, 
  having 
  

   been 
  carved 
  by 
  atmospheric 
  and 
  stream 
  erosion 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  uplifted 
  

   land. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  part 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  had 
  been 
  perma- 
  

   nently 
  raised 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  sea, 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  vast 
  plain, 
  declining 
  southward. 
  

   The 
  Ontario 
  and 
  Mohawk 
  Valleys 
  did 
  not 
  exist. 
  All 
  the 
  stream 
  

   drainage 
  of 
  the 
  area 
  was 
  soutliward, 
  from 
  Canada 
  across 
  New 
  York 
  

   into 
  Pennsylvania. 
  A 
  wide 
  belt 
  of 
  comparatively 
  weak 
  rocks 
  lay 
  

   east 
  and 
  west 
  where 
  the 
  Ontario 
  and 
  Mohawk 
  Valleys 
  are 
  nov/. 
  In 
  

   that 
  belt 
  the 
  east 
  and 
  west 
  tributaries 
  of 
  the 
  primitive 
  south-flowing 
  

   rivers 
  had 
  an 
  advantage, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  weaker 
  resistance 
  of 
  the 
  

   underlying 
  rocks. 
  They 
  cut 
  down 
  faster 
  and 
  captured, 
  or 
  " 
  beheaded," 
  

   the 
  rivers 
  from 
  Canada 
  and 
  developed 
  the 
  east-and-west 
  depression 
  

   that 
  initiated 
  the 
  Ontario 
  and 
  Mohawk 
  Valleys. 
  

  

  Eventually 
  a 
  great 
  trunk 
  river, 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  Ontarian, 
  occupied 
  

   the 
  depression 
  that 
  is 
  now 
  the 
  Ontario 
  Valley, 
  probably 
  flowing 
  west- 
  

   ward 
  to 
  the 
  Mississippi. 
  Of 
  course, 
  this 
  great 
  valley 
  had 
  two 
  walls 
  

   or 
  drainage 
  slopes. 
  On 
  the 
  south 
  wall, 
  sloping 
  northward, 
  the 
  

   streams 
  flowed 
  northward 
  into 
  the 
  Ontarian 
  River. 
  Durino- 
  the 
  

   long 
  geologic 
  time, 
  probably 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Mesozoic 
  era, 
  or 
  age 
  of 
  

   reptiles, 
  and 
  certainly 
  during 
  the 
  succeeding 
  long 
  Tertiary 
  period, 
  or 
  

   age 
  of 
  mammals, 
  the 
  Ontario 
  Valley 
  was 
  deepening 
  and 
  widening. 
  

  

  