6 FIELD OPERATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF SOILS, 1916. 



places reach a height of nearly 200 feet. In the eastern end of this 

 division the dune belt averages one-half mile in width, and has few 

 depressions, but is backed by a long, continuous strip of low land. 

 Adjoining tliis strip the lake sands have covered the glacial deposits 

 for a considerable distance. North and west of Baileytown the dunes 

 are somewhat lower, and the belt includes marshy depressions. 



The topography of the Valparaiso Moraine and associated ground 

 moraine is extremely "varied. Much of it is fairly level or gently 

 undulating. A comparatively rough belt extends in a general south- 

 westerly direction from Burdick through Woodville Junction and 

 south of SecUey. It is most rugged southwest of Woodville Junction, 

 where the liill slopes are often quite steep and gullied. This belt is 

 marked by a general rise of over 100 feet from the low land north of 

 it to the higher land to the south. In it are the headwaters of many 

 small streams flowing northward. There are some extensions of this 

 broken belt into the liigher and more nearly level land, notably along 

 the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad southeast of Woodville Junction, and 

 along the Salt Creek Valley. 



The undulating till plain lying southwest of Valparaiso has a 

 general slope toward the south and southeast. The Kankakee Plain 

 is very flat throughout. 



Level bottom lands from a few feet to over one-fourth mile wide 

 occur along the streams of the county. Often near the headwaters 

 they are not well defined and not strictly alluvial, but along the large 

 creeks they occupy definite valleys lying 2 to 15 feet below the gen- 

 eral level of the surrounding country. Through the morainic belt 

 numerous depressions are found, ranging from a few acres to several 

 hunch'ed acres in size.. More than a dozen small lakes occur in such 

 depressions in this county. 



The general elevation of the flatter lands in the south end of Porter 

 County is about 652 to 700 feet above sea level. The elevation of the 

 Valparaiso Moraine is more than 800 feet in the higher part north 

 and northeast of Valparaiso. At the summit in section 30, town- 

 ship 36, range 5, the elevation is 888 feet. Lake IVIichigan is about 

 585 feet above sea level. 



The belt of sand dunes along the Lake Michigan beach probably 

 averages more than 100 feet in height, with isolated peaks rising 100 

 feet higher. West of Dune Park these sand hills are somewhat 

 lower and broken with marshes. Just back of the dune belt the 

 continuous marshy strip about a mile wide is 20 feet above lake level. 

 East of Baileytown the moraine fronts on this marshy belt and rises 

 40 feet or more above it. The beach lying at the foot of the mo- 

 rame continues southwestward to the county line. At tlie junction 

 with Salt Creek the Calumet River crosses this beach and enters the 

 low, marshy strip. West of Baileytown the moraine is not in evi- 



