THE BLOOMINGTON MOKAINIC SYSTEM. 271 



sandy outwash along' the borders of the Bloomington morainic system is 

 outlined in the glacial map, PI. VI, where it may be compared with that of 

 other morainic systems. This comparison shows that the outwash was fully 

 as extensive as in any substage of the early or late Wisconsin. It is, how- 

 ever, of a finer grade than in some of the later substages, a feature which 

 seems to indicate that the attitude of the land may have been scarcely so 

 favorable for vigorous drainage as in the later substages. In the following- 

 detailed discussion the valleys in the vicinity of Bloomington are first con- 

 sidered. From this point the valleys are taken up in order toward the west 

 and north, along the outer border of the morainic system. 



For a few miles southeast from the meridian of Bloomington there is a 

 shallow, valley-like depression along the outer border of the moraine. It 

 is about a half mile in width, and its surface stands 15 to 25 feet below the 

 plain on the south and 75 o*r 100 feet below the crest of the moraine on 

 the north. Its eastern end is near the village of Downs, at Kickapoo Creek. 

 It leads westward across the interval between East and West Kickapoo 

 creeks, and also across that between West Kickapoo Creek and an eastern 

 tributary of Sugar Creek. Both branches of Kickapoo Creek pass directly 

 across it, but the branch of Sugar Creek referred to follows the depression 

 westward for a distance of 2 miles, and there turns awa}^ from the moraine. 

 The depression is found to have a filling of fine gravel and sand of con- 

 siderable depth, so that wells 10 or 20 feet deep do not reach its bottom. 

 The gravel was carried from this valley-like depression for some distance 

 down each of the valleys which lead away from it, and is preserved in the 

 form of terraces which stand 20 or 30 feet below the level of the bordering 

 plains and about 20 feet above the present stream bed. The gravel prob- 

 ably extends down at least to the level of the present streams. It would 

 appear, therefore, that valleys had been excavated to, if not beyond, their 

 present depth prior to this filling. The gravel filling was traced down 

 Kickapoo Creek beyond Hey worth, a distance of about 10 miles from 

 the outer border of the moraine. Just north of Heyworth it is preserved 

 in a broad terrace which has been extensively opened for gravel by the 

 Illinois Central Railway. How much farther down the valley the gravel 

 was transported has not been determined. On the tributary of Sugar 

 Creek which leads away from the western end of this depression the gravel 

 deposits were followed continuously down to a point east of Shirley. They 



