THE PELHAM RIVER SANDS. 591 



often developed as lines of kanie ridg-es or as reticulated rid<jfes, in part 

 bovmded on the west by a line of drunilins, as oj)posite the itelchertown 

 poorhouse, in part sloping down directly to tlie high lake terrace. 



On passing' the north line of Ludlow a great area of till, leaning on the 

 higli rock border on the east, projects west across the j^atli M' the \\'ater- 

 course we ai"e following. Across this ai'ea there is a channel of proper height 

 to have been the continuation of the same, but I found here only indistinct 

 traces of water action. South of this, however, before one reaches the vil- 

 lage of Ludlow, is a broad area, which extends southward beneath the village 

 and to the Chicopee River, of the same high sands, which have come for the 

 most part down Broad Brook, and partly also down the Chicopee River from 

 the Belchertown Lake. The same sands appear south of the Chicopee and 

 extend in less amount across Wilbraham. 



2. With the melting back of the ice from the southern slope of the 

 Holyoke range the waters passing through the Belchertown notch would 

 be deflected westward and southwestward, along the south foot of the range, 

 to fill up the deeply eroded area that extends past Moody Corners clear 

 to the Connecticut, which has since been partly reexcavated by Bachelors 

 and Elmers brooks; and as the ice retreated still more the waters would 

 carry their load of sand and gravel directly into the wide Granby l)asin to 

 build up the broad plain surrounding Forge Pond. The present condition 

 of the gravels extending south from the notch makes it certain that this was 

 the last course of the waters. The coarse gravels extending through the 

 notch where they surround the third pond are still very coarse, pebbles 6 

 inches in diameter being abundant. Here the goi'ge expands and the 

 gravels extend across the widening basin, growing gradually finer. Halfway 

 to the east line of the town (Granby) they are 4-mch gravels; at the town 

 line, 2-inch gravels; where the wood road cuts deeply into them north of 

 Moody Corners and in South Hadley they are exposed for 35 feet as fine, 

 well-bedded sands. 



3. By the melting back of the ice from the north side of the Holyoke 

 range the river expanded lake-like along its northern foot and, aided by 

 waters coming directly across the ice, a great body of sand was rapidly 

 carried in here. This extends west just beyond the "notch road" to South 

 Hadley and stretches through the much lower notch near the east end of 

 the range, and is continuous with the sands in the Belchertown notch. 



