SOIL PHYSICS 



455 



The water in any shallow well stands at exactly the height of 

 the water table if no water be used from the well. The water in 

 the well varies in height just as the water table varies. Numer- 

 ous wells have been sunk on the rolling ground lying beside 

 a lake. The well at the lake's shore has water standing in it 

 at the lake's level. A well farther up the hill is found to have 

 water standing in it at a level somewhat higher. The next 

 well, still farther up the hill, has water standing at a still 

 higher level. In almost every case the level at which the water 

 stands in the various wells scattered over a considerable area 

 of land bordering upon a lake, indicates that the water table 



FIG. 278. Relation of water table to the land surface. 



tends to follow more or less closely the general level of the land. 

 Where the land rises the highest; there the water table shows 

 the same tendency to stand high in the soil (Fig. 278). This 

 same fact may be seen manifested on a much larger scale in 

 the study of the geographical facts of the Lower Michigan 

 Peninsula. 



534. The Lower Michigan Peninsula. By the Lower 

 Michigan Peninsula is meant that portion of Michigan which 

 lies between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The peninsula is 

 about 300 miles in length and 200 miles in width. The surface 

 of the land is generally what is called level. It is, however, 

 over most of this area slightly rolling. From each lake the 

 land rises gradually. The line of highest land, the WATERSHED, 

 lies somewhat to the east of the center of the state and extends 



