THE UPPER OR HERMAN BEACHES. 325 



feet. Ill the northwest quiirtev of this section it becomes a still broadei* 

 deposit of gravel and sand, n fourth to a third of a mile wide, with no 

 depression on its west side. Here its com'se is turned northwestward, 

 entering- the southeast quarter of section 21 with an elevation of 1,109 

 feet; but it seems uni to l)e distinctly traceable farther. About a half mile 

 west of this beach a plateau of till, 1,125 to 1,128 feet above the sea, 

 extends a third of a mile from southeast to northwest in the southeast 

 quarter of section 28; l)ut for a mile south and west of this plateau, and 

 for 3 miles northwest, the surface of slightly undulating till averag'es only 

 1,105 to 1,120 feet. 



The secondary Herman beach, already described in its course east of 

 the Erie escarpment of till, continues northward with an elevation of 1,095 

 feet, approximately, through the east half of sections 10 and 3, Erie, and 

 sections 34 and 27, Dows. In sections 22 and 16 this beach turns in a 

 gradual curve to the northwest and west, and its crest varies in height from 

 1,095 to 1,104 feet, being highest in or near the southeast corner of section 

 16. There it is a ridge of gravel and sand about 30 rods wide, rising- 10 

 to 15 feet above its northeastern base and descending 6 to 10 feet on the 

 .southwest to a nearly flat tract of moist mowing land fully a mile wide, 

 with a height of 1,090 to 1,095 feet. Through sections 17, 8, and 5 it 

 again curves to the northwest, north, and north-northeast, having an eleva- 

 tion of about 1,095 feet. In the north half of sections 5 and 4, Dows, a 

 smooth plain with sand subsoil extends a mile eastward from the east base 

 of this beach ridge, descending in this distance from 1,090 to 1,075 feet. 



Contmuiition of this beach northward nearly through the middle of 

 section 32, Galesburg, 1,096 to 1,099 feet. It is a typical beach ridge of 

 fine gravel and sand, 8 to 10 feet above the land on its east side and having 

 a descent of about 5 feet westward, beyond which the surface of undulat- 

 ing till rises in 1 or 1.^, miles to 1,125 feet and in the next 2 miles to 1,175 

 or 1 ,200 feet. A half mile east from this beach, and only 20 to 30 rods 

 west of the railroad, there is a parallel beach ridge of similar size and 

 material, at 1,090 to 1,092 feet. The former of these beaches, where it 

 crosses the south line of section 20, a fourth to a half mile west of Galesburg, 

 is spread in a broad, nearly flat deposit which rises westward from 1,096 to 

 1,101 feet. On the west it is bordered by a depression about 8 feet lower. 



