REVISION OF SOILS IN THE ALBEMARLE AREA. 



or levels, as illustrated in the abrupt rises to higher levels going from 

 Crimora station to the Crimora mines. " Originally the variation in 

 level was not marked by bluff lines in all cases, for even now the 

 terrace formation in places grades into the overflowed bottom lands 

 through a gradual, unbroken slope (fig. 1), while in other places there 

 is a distinct drop or bluff line between the first bottom level and 

 terrace level. Nevertheless, erosion in places has considerably altered 

 the surface configuration of the original terrace. Typically, the 

 various levels range from flat to undulating, usually sloping grad- 

 ually streamward. The slope is imperceptible in many places, as in 

 the nearly level area to the south and southwest of Lyndhurst (see 



FIG. 1. Showing in distant background gentle slope of terrace from foot of the Blue Ridge to Shenandoah 

 River. Looking north from west side of river in vicinity of Crimora station. 



fig. 2) and the cultivated fields along the Norfolk & Western Railroad 

 between Crimora station and Islandford. The slopes generally 

 increase as the foot of the Blue Ridge is approached. The outer 

 inurgin, representing the highest portion of the terrace, has a much 

 more perceptible slope than the average of the terrace, a fact prob- 

 ably due to the accumulation of colluvial material from the adjacent 

 mountain slopes. The mountains frequently rise abruptly from the 

 almost level surface of the higher portion of the terrace. (See fig. 3.) 

 Streams issuing from the mountain coves have cut through the 

 higher portions of the terrace and their laterals have extended back 

 on each side, giving rise to many gently rolling areas. 



