THE ELK VALLEY DELTA. 333 



1,159 feet, excepting gaps cut by .small watercourses; and in the east edge 

 of the northeast quarter of section 33, 1,154 to 1,157 feet. Thirty rods 

 west from the northeast corner of this section 33 its elevation is 1,155 feet, 

 with slopes descending 12 feet eastward and 8 feet westward. 



Lower Herman beach, a half mile to three-fourths of a mile east of 

 the foregoing, in the west edge of sections 14 and 11 and the east edge 

 of section 3, township 150, .range 55, 1,130 to 1,135 feet, from which there 

 is a descent of 5 feet to its west base and 10 feet to the east. From the 

 southeast quarter of section 34, township 151, range 55, this beach passes 

 northeasterly to Larimore. 



Upper Herman beach, a well-defined ridge, running north tln-ough the 

 east part of section 28, township 151, range 55, 1,155 to 1,159 feet; thence 

 north-northwesterly through sections 21 and 16, 1,157 to 1,160 feet, and 

 through the southwest part of section 9, the northeast part of section 8, and 

 the southeast quarter of section 5, 1,157 to 1,162 feet. Where it is crossed by 

 the Devils Lake line of the Great Northern Railway, in the south part of the 

 northeast quarter of section 5, about 4^ miles west of Larimore, its crest 

 was at 1,162 feet, 4 feet above the track, and it holds the same height for 

 about 50 rods northeastward. Two-fifths of a mile east from this beach 

 the railroad crosses a second beach deposit whose crest and the track are the 

 same, 1,146 feet. 



DELTA OF THE ELK VALLEY. 



(PLATE XXIX.) 



Nearly level land reaches 4 miles westward from Larimore along the 

 Devils Lake railway line, averaging 1,130 feet above the sea, and varying 

 only 2 or 3 feet above and below this level. Beneath the rich black soil 

 here and elsewhere, all about Larimore, are stratified sand and fine silt free 

 from gravel. The beach ridges near this town are consequently composed 

 wholly of sand, quite in contrast with their usually coarser material. 



The underlying beds consist largely of sand from the Fort Pierre 

 shale, and were derived probably in part from erosion by the head streams 

 of the Turtle and Goose rivers in this Cretaceous formation, which here 

 constitutes the highland west of Lake Agassiz, thinly covered by till. 



