﻿FINGER 
  LAKES 
  — 
  FAIRCHILD 
  293 
  

  

  Its 
  tributaries 
  from 
  the 
  south 
  were 
  doing 
  the 
  same, 
  and 
  by 
  head- 
  

   ward 
  erosion 
  were 
  eatino; 
  back, 
  southward, 
  into 
  the 
  highLand 
  of 
  the 
  

   southern 
  belt. 
  Eventually 
  these 
  north-flowing 
  rivers 
  deeply 
  in- 
  

   trenched 
  the 
  highland, 
  even 
  into 
  Pennsylvania. 
  Thus 
  all 
  western 
  

   New 
  York 
  and 
  a 
  belt 
  of 
  northern 
  Pennsylvania 
  was 
  drained 
  north 
  

   into 
  either 
  the 
  Ontarian 
  or 
  the 
  Erian 
  Rivers. 
  (See 
  the 
  map, 
  fig. 
  1.) 
  

  

  It 
  must 
  be 
  recognized 
  that 
  this 
  northward 
  New 
  York 
  drainage 
  

   was 
  the 
  reverse 
  in 
  direction 
  of 
  the 
  original, 
  or 
  primitive, 
  flow 
  on 
  

   the 
  old 
  coastal 
  plain. 
  Of 
  course 
  the 
  Canadian 
  streams 
  retained 
  their 
  

   southward 
  flow, 
  as 
  seen 
  to-day, 
  until 
  they 
  reached 
  the 
  Ontarian 
  

   River. 
  The 
  upper 
  Susquehanna 
  and 
  its 
  upper 
  tributaries 
  are 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  persistent 
  examples 
  of 
  the 
  primitive 
  southward 
  flow, 
  but 
  they 
  

   have 
  been 
  beheaded 
  by 
  the 
  Mohawk, 
  flowing 
  eastward. 
  

  

  The 
  parallel 
  valleys 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  were 
  carved 
  in 
  preglacial 
  time 
  

   by 
  north-flowing 
  rivers; 
  with 
  the 
  possible 
  exception 
  of 
  Canandaigua 
  

   and 
  Keuka 
  Valleys, 
  which 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  retained, 
  through 
  some 
  

   distance, 
  the 
  primitive 
  southward 
  flow. 
  But 
  even 
  their 
  streams 
  be- 
  

   came 
  tributary 
  to 
  the 
  northward 
  flow. 
  (Fig. 
  1.) 
  If 
  we 
  ever 
  have 
  

   a 
  geographic 
  survey 
  of 
  the 
  buried 
  rock 
  topography, 
  it 
  will 
  doubtless 
  

   show 
  that 
  the 
  bottoms 
  of 
  the 
  Irondequoit, 
  Seneca, 
  and 
  Cayuga 
  Val- 
  

   leys 
  are 
  graded 
  to 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  Lake 
  Ontario. 
  This 
  will 
  fully 
  

   account 
  for 
  the 
  depths 
  of 
  the 
  unfilled 
  portions 
  of 
  these 
  valleys. 
  

  

  One 
  surprising 
  element 
  in 
  the 
  reversed 
  drainage 
  (sliown 
  in 
  the 
  

   map) 
  was 
  the 
  capture 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  Susquehanna 
  River. 
  First 
  it 
  was 
  

   diverted 
  to 
  westward 
  flow, 
  as 
  retained 
  to-day, 
  through 
  Binghamton, 
  

   Owego, 
  and 
  Waverly. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  believed 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  turned 
  north- 
  

   ward 
  at 
  Elmira 
  and 
  did 
  tlie 
  chief 
  work 
  of 
  deepening 
  the 
  Seneca 
  

   Valley. 
  We 
  might 
  call 
  this 
  great 
  river 
  the 
  Senecahanna, 
  or 
  the 
  

   Susqueseneca. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  northward 
  drainage 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  appears 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  concentrated 
  in 
  the 
  Genesee 
  and 
  the 
  Susqueseneca. 
  

  

  We 
  now 
  have 
  found 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  parallel 
  valleys. 
  Three 
  

   questions 
  now 
  occur. 
  Why 
  the 
  valleys 
  are 
  cut 
  below 
  sea 
  level; 
  how 
  

   they 
  were 
  dammed, 
  to 
  hold 
  lakes; 
  and 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  the 
  digital 
  ar- 
  

   rangement, 
  like 
  fingers 
  on 
  the 
  palm 
  of 
  the 
  hand. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  for 
  people 
  in 
  quiet 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  continent 
  to 
  

   realize 
  that 
  the 
  land 
  is 
  not 
  fixed 
  and 
  eternal. 
  People 
  in 
  earthquake- 
  

   ridden 
  areas 
  know 
  better. 
  Even 
  continental 
  areas 
  move 
  slowly 
  up 
  

   and 
  down. 
  During 
  the 
  long 
  eons 
  while 
  the 
  valleys 
  were 
  making, 
  the 
  

   land 
  of 
  eastern 
  America 
  was 
  probably 
  seesawing, 
  up 
  and 
  down, 
  as 
  

   it 
  had 
  been 
  doing 
  in 
  earlier 
  time. 
  Just 
  previous 
  to 
  the 
  glacial 
  

   period 
  it 
  probably 
  stood 
  much 
  higher 
  than 
  it 
  is 
  to-day, 
  possibly 
  two 
  

   or 
  three 
  thousand 
  feet. 
  Certainly 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  Ontario 
  Valley 
  

   was 
  high 
  enough 
  to 
  allow 
  efficient 
  flow 
  to 
  the 
  sea 
  of 
  the 
  Ontarian 
  

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