164 PLEISTOCENE OF INDIANA AND MICHIGAN. 



stream and apparently rises toward the moraine whose edge is 1 to 3 miles south. The material 

 in this plain is fine, indicating rather weak discharge, and its extent is small, for it becomes 

 inconspicuous in western Kosciusko County. 



Farther up the Tippecanoe across Bone Prairie and Turkey Prairie eastward to Tippecanoe 

 Lake a sheet of gravel of medium coarseness, spread over about 50 square miles, may have 

 been in part outwash from the Saginaw lobe. Farther east in the vicinity of the Barbee Lakes 

 and Tippecanoe Lake the outwash is sandy. 



A conspicuous gravel plain south of Elkhart River in western Noble County abuts at the 

 east against sharp morainic ridges of the Lagrange moraine and at the north fronts on a bowlder- 

 strewn plain along Elkhart Eiver. Its position indicates derivation from the Saginaw as well 

 as from the Huron-Erie lobe, and this interpretation is sustained by the character of the material 

 and the slope of the plain. The material is a coarse gravel and cobble on the north and east 

 and becomes a fine gravel toward the southwest, and the plain slopes southwestward. That 

 the Huron-Erie lobe probably persisted longer than the Saginaw has already been indicated, 

 and is apparently supported by certain features of this gravel plain, on whose southern edge 

 a shallow but broad valley heading in the Huron-Erie correlative of the Lagrange moraine east 

 of Cromwell seems to have been produced by drainage from the Huron-Erie lobe after the 

 cessation of the outwash from the Saginaw lobe. 



A plain lying along the outer border of the Lagrange moraine between the Elkhart Valley 

 at Ligonier and the intersection of the Huron-Erie with the Lagrange moraine near Lagrange is 

 covered in part by a thin deposit of clay or clayey till but generally has gravel and sand at the 

 surface. In the clayey portion the sand and gravel are sufficiently near the surface to give 

 underground drainage. The clay is present from near Ligonier northward past Topeka and 

 extends 2 or 3 miles out from the moraine, terminating in a feather edge. It carries a few sur- 

 face bowlders and is probably to be regarded as a till sheet, though in places nearly free from 

 pebbles. The gently undulating western slope of the moraine near Topeka also has a clayey 

 till of considerable depth. The conditions here are the reverse of those common in outwash 

 aprons, in most of which sand and gravel extends up to the moraine as a continuous surface 

 sheet and even laps upon the edge of the moraine as a coating to the knolls and as a filling in 

 sa^s. Here, however, the outer slope of the moraine is nearly free from surface gravel and the 

 till extends out into the gravel plain. West and southwest of Topeka wells with depths of 50 to 75 

 feet are entirely through gravel and sand after passing through the thin surface capping of till. 

 This district is known as the "Haw patch" and is one of the most productive farming areas in 

 Indiana. 



Within 2 or 3 miles northeast from Topeka sandy deposits set in on the outer edge of the 

 moraine but soon give place to gravel and cobble which extends to the head of the reentrant 

 between the Lagrange moraine and its equivalent in the Huron-Erie lobe. It is naturally to 

 be expected that drainage here would have been exceptionally vigorous. The strongest out- 

 flow (see p. 145) appears to have been from the Huron-Erie side of the reentrant. 



East of the Lagrange moraine in northern Noble County gravelly plains of limited extent 

 appear at two places, but in general no conspicuous outwash lies along this part of the moraine. 

 One gravelly plain with an area of 3 or 4 square miles lies along the east side of the south fork 

 of Elkhart River in the north part of T. 34 N., R. 9 E. Its surface is not so level as that of the 

 typical outwash apron, but shows gentle swells 5 to 10 feet high and marshy basins, some of 

 which are occupied by lakes. Within a mile southeast of the edge of this gravelly district a 

 very stiff clayey till sets in and extends southeastward beyond Albion. North and northeast 

 of the gravelly district a very loose textured till extends to the north fork of Elkhart River and 

 Waldron Lake. 



The second gravelly district extends westward from Rome City into the bend of Elkhart 

 River. It is a pitted plain near its eastern end and has sags and poorly drained depressions 

 interspersed with dry strips of gravel. North of this gravel plain a sharply rigid strip of rather 

 loose textured drift trends east-southeast and west-northwest. Possibly the gravel plain was 

 formed as an outwash during the development of this ridged belt, for the latter has a more 



