320 THE GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ. 



Agassiz is marked by slight erosion in the rolliug and undukitiiig .surface of" 

 till rather than by the usual beach deposits of gravel and sand. 



Beyond this, a conspicuous beach ridge 25 to 40 rods wide, elevated 

 10 feet above the undulating till on its west side and bordered by a still 

 lower surface on the east, extends from the uiiddle of the southwest quarter 

 of the southeast ([uarter of section 3, Eldred, northwestward to near the 

 middle of the north line of the northwest quarter of this section, where it 

 is inteiTupted by a drainage gap about 20 feet below its crest. Thence this 

 massive beach ridge continues in a north-northeast coiirse tlu'ough section 

 34, Howes, to near the middle of its north line. Its material is smid and. 

 gravel, with pebbles up to 1 J inches in diameter. In section 3 its elevation 

 is 1,095 to 1,090 feet, and in section 34, 1,089 to 1,094 feet. It passes 

 onward as a very distinct and typical beach ridge, with the same north - 

 northeast course, through sections 27 and 22, Howes, having an elevation 

 of 1,087 to 1,095 feet in section 27 and 1,089 to 1,096 feet in section 22. 

 Its eastern slope in these sections descends 15 to 20 feet. 



About a half mile west from this great beach ridge the east edge of 

 section 4 has iri-egular deposits of beach gravel and sand in swells and bars 

 5 feet above the general level, and in the east edge of section 33, Howes, 

 a well-defined pai'allel beach begins, having a width of 20 to 25 rods and 

 elevation of 1,092 to 1,094 feet, with a depression 2 to 4 feet lower on the 

 west and descent of about 5 feet on the east. This western Herman beach 

 extends as a continuous ridge 2 miles to the north-northeast, excepting a 

 gap where it is intersected by a small stream in the northwest quarter of 

 section 27. Its material is sand and gravel, with pebbles up to 2 inches in 

 diameter, about half being limestone. Both this and the east beach have a 

 black soil a foot or more in depth, and are scarcely inferior to the adjoining 

 areas of till in productiveness. Farther west a slightly undulating or 

 nearly flat surface of till extends from a half mile to 1^- miles before it 

 rises above 1,095 feet, and the highest of its swells, seen 3 to 6 miles away 

 to the west and northwest, do not exceed 1,150 or 1,175 feet. The western 

 Herman beach on the north line of the northwest quarter of section 27 has 

 a height of 1,095 feet; about 6 rods to the south, 1,097 feet; and northeast- 



