MORAINES OF NORTHERN LIMB OP HURON-ERIE LOBE IN INDIANA. 159 



strip runs northward from Wolcottville through the eastern part of T. 36 N., R. 10 E. A 

 poorly developed moraine on the eastern edge of a high gravel plain in northeastern Lagrange 

 County runs northeastward from Mongo to intersect with the Sturgis moraine at Wall Lake, 

 2 or 3 miles west of Orland. 



The outer border of the main moraine passes from Lagrange County into Steuben County 

 on the south side of Pigeon River and crosses to the north side of the river at Flint River, 4 

 miles east of the county line. Thence its course is northward across the State line. 



It is not easy to differentiate this main moraine from the Mississinawa morainic system 

 which follows and laps upon its inner border. Dryer thinks that the greater part of the moraine 

 belongs to the Mississinawa, 1 basing Ms opinion on its more regular surface and predominating 

 clayey constitution; the irregular western edge he classes with the drift of the Saginaw lobe. 

 The present writer finds evidence, however, in the distribution of outwash aprons and in the 

 relation and connections of the several ridges of the irregular western edge that they also belong 

 largely to the Huron-Erie lobe. (See pp. 163-164.) Dryer's line is probably not far from 

 correct so far as it pertains to the limits of the Mississinawa system, which, from its bulk, is 

 inferred to have overridden the earlier moraine. Possibly both have overridden a pre- Wisconsin 

 ridge, for from studies in southeastern Michigan (see pp. 199, 261) there seems good reason to 

 think that pre- Wisconsin drift forms a considerable part of certain massive moraines which are 

 in line with and are apparently a continuation of this massive drift belt. 



The general width of the morainic belt and of the Mississinawa morainic system, from their 

 junction northeastward to the State line, is 10 to 15 miles, about the same as that of the moraines 

 southwest of the junction. The combined moraines cover much of the eastern hah of Noble 

 County, about 30 square miles of the southeastern part of Lagrange County, about as much 

 of the northwestern part of Dekalb County, and much of the western half of Steuben County. 

 Then- continuation in southeastern Michigan is considered in connection with correlative moraines 

 of the Saginaw lobe. (See pp. 189-195.) 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The moraines of the Huron-Erie lobe show a gradual and somewhat regular increase in 

 altitude from southwest to northeast throughout their extent in northeastern Indiana. They 

 are below 700 feet near Delphi, but reach 775 feet north of Logansport, 800 feet in northeastern 

 Cass County, 900 feet in southeastern Fulton County, 1,000 feet in eastern Noble County, and 

 1,100 to 1,150 feet on the highest points in northern Steuben County. 



From data furnished by deep borings it appears that the altitude of the bedrock surface 

 does not rise toward the northeast, but is remarkably uniform at about 600 feet above sea level 

 all along the morainic belt in northeastern Indiana. A few miles north of the State line, however, 

 in Hillsdale County, Mich., bedrock rises very rapidly and attains an altitude of over 1,100 feet. 

 The great drift accumulations in northeast Indiana are laid down, as it were, in the lee of the 

 prominent table-land of sandstone of the Marshall formation that has its southern terminus 

 in Hillsdale County, Mich. 



In Whitley, Kosciusko, Fulton, Wabash, Miami, and Cass counties the moraines form 

 the divide between Tippecanoe and Eel rivers, both of which are tributary to the Wabash. 

 North of the head of the Tippecanoe the several headwaters of Elkhart River find their source 

 in these moraines and lead northwestward to St. Joseph River and thence to Lake Michigan. 

 The opposite or southeastern slope of the moraines is drained by tributaries of the St. Joseph 

 (of theMaumee), which belongs to the Lake Erie drainage. In Steuben County these moraines 

 are traversed from east to west by three small streams, Turkey Creek, Pigeon River, and Crooked 

 Creek, which have their sources near its eastern border on much lower land than the main crest 

 of the moraine. Their discharge is into St. Joseph River and thence to Lake Michigan. 



In most places the drainage divide is at the crest of the main moraine, most of 

 which is higher than the general level of the western edge, though some prominent points along 

 the western edge are as high as the main crest. The relief of the main crest above the outer 



i Dryer, C. K., Eighteenth Ann. Rept. Indiana Dept. Geology and Nat. Res., 1S94, pp. 83-90. 



