106 BASINS. 



In some places, in this basin, terrace number three is wider than the whole basin of terraces generally, in 

 Vermont and New Hampshire. At Enfield, Ct., in this basin, the river has cut through a sandstone range 

 of considerable height. The highest terraces, however, rise above the rocks in most places ; yet, during 

 the deposition of the lower terraces, this basin must have been divided into two of nearly equal size. 

 The third basin -from Mt. Holyoke to Mt. Mettawampe in Massachusetts has been the most carefully 

 studied portion of the whole river, as the majority of the geological corps have spent the greater part of 

 their lives in it, and are therefore better acquainted with its geology than with that of any other section of 

 the country. The valley is eleven miles wide, and except where tributaries unite their action with the 

 present or former channels of the Connecticut, the terraces are characterized by width rather than number. 

 Upon Fort River, in Pelham, numerous terraces are found, formed by a combination of the two rivers Fort 

 river and a former bed of the Connecticut River which are very numerous ; the highest being 383 

 feet above the Connecticut, and 483 above the ocean. In this basin, old river beds of the Connecti- 

 cut, old sea bottoms, ancient beaches of various heights, and moraine terraces are remarkably fine. 

 Other basins upon the tributaries are very fine, especially upon Deerfield and Westfield Rivers. These, 

 with all the details of the other basins out of Vermont, will be found clearly set forth in the Illustrations 

 of Surf ace Geology so often alluded to. The fourth basin, though small, from Mettawampe to Miller's 

 River, has many terraces, but none of special interest. The highest terrace is probably about 150 feet 

 above the river at Turner's Falls, and forms an extensive sandy plain. 



BASIN FROM THE MOUTH OF MILLER'S RIVER TO BRATTLEBORO. 



We come now to the basin which, though commencing in Massachusetts, is mostly located in Vermont. 



The sections in this basin, with their descriptions, are copied mostly from the 

 Illustrations of Surface Geology. The heights, unless otherwise specified, were 

 obtained by levelling. Fig. 47 represents a section of the terraces in North- 

 field, Mass., two miles south of the village, running eastward from Conn. 

 River. The first terrace of twenty-four feet altitude is the alluvial meadow. 

 The two next terraces, composed of sand, are the second and third, and are 



section in Nonhfieid, Mass. respectively ninety and one hundred and thirty-one feet above the river. The 

 _, ,g fourth terrace, or beach more properly, is irregular on its top, and was not 



measured. 



Fig. 48 represents a similar section upon the same river, running eastward in 

 the north part of Northfield, only a short distance south of the State line. 



To save prolix details, we have thrown together in a Table at the end of 

 our remarks upon Old Sea Bottoms, the heights of all the terraces and beaches 

 which have been measured in the State, both above the rivers, and above the 

 ocean, where it has been possible. It is also designated by what process the height was obtained, whether 

 by levelling, the Aneroid Barometer, or upon the authority of some person not connected with the survey. 

 We have also marked the course of the sections upon the maps and upon the general map of the river 

 . (Plate III), except when an enlarged map of some portion of it has been given. 



At the mouth of Ashuelot River, in Hinsdale, N. H., the terraces are numerous and instructive. The 

 river is a small but rapid stream, and where it debouches from the hills into the Connecticut valley, it has 

 brought forward a large mass of terrace materials, mainly of gravel, which originally constituted a delta 

 terrace ; that is, the stream threw forward these materials into the lake, or estuary, and formed a bank 

 along its mouth. But as the waters drained off, so as to bring this bank above them, the Ashuelot cut 

 through them, and formed lateral terraces along its margin. On the northern side of the stream, at its 

 mouth, a rocky hill extends nearly or quite to the Connecticut, which is thereby forced at this spot to make 

 a curve westward. The adjoining section (Fig. 49) passes across the Ashuelot near its mouth, directly 

 through the village of Hinsdale, northwesterly over the hill, and then descends to the Connecticut, passing 

 west of the river near the village of Vernon ; so that all the terraces on the right of the rocky hills 

 belong to the Ashuelot ; while those to the left belong to the Connecticut. The difference in their height 



Section near Vt. line, in Mass. 



