662 THE ILLINOIS GLACIAL LOBE. 



In the vicinity of Loda wells are often sunk to a depth of 100 feet, 

 mainly through till. The water rises as in the flowing well district, but the 

 altitude is much too high for an overflow, being about 775 feet above tide. 



FORD COUNTY. 

 GENERAL STATEMENT. 



Ford County is situated west of Iroquois and also extends a short 

 distance along the western portion of the south border of that county. It 

 is a narrow tract, its northern two-thirds being but 6 miles in width. It has 

 an area of 490 square miles and Paxton is the county seat. It occupies a 

 comparatively elevated tract from which streams discharge in all directions. 

 From the northern portion the drainage is in part tributary to Mazon Creek, 

 which enters the Illinois at Morris; in part to the Illinois- Vermilion River, 

 which enters the Illinois at Lasalle, and in part to the Iroquois River. 

 The southern portion divides its waters between the Iroquois, the Wabash- 

 Vermilion, and the Sangamon rivers. 



The southern half of the county is occupied by the Bloomington 

 morainic system, whose highest points have an altitude about 860 feet 

 above tide. The extreme northern end is occupied by the Marseilles 

 system. Between these morainic systems there is a plane tract which 

 constitutes the westward extension of the basin of Iroquois County, and 

 like it is favorably situated for obtaining flowing wells. Its altitude is 

 650 to 700 feet. 



The entire county is covered with a nearly continuous sheet of blue 

 till 100 feet or more in average depth, beneath which there is apparently a 

 series of hard till deposits interbedded with sand and gravel, similar to those 

 in Iroquois County already discussed. 



Records of eight wells which reach the rock show an average thickness 

 of 211 feet of drift, which is perhaps a fair approximation to the averag-e for 

 the county. Many deep tubular wells have been sunk in this county, some 

 of them reaching depths of over 200 feet without entering rock. The 

 greatest thickness reported within the county is at the artesian well in 

 Paxton, where 440 feet of drift was penetrated. 



INDIVIDUAL WELLS. 



The public water supply at Paxton is from wells about 150 feet in 

 depth, obtained in sand and gravel below a sheet of till. The water rises 





