MORAINES OF NORTHERN LIMB OF HURON-ERIE LOBE IN INDIANA. 167 



INNER BORDER. 



DISTRIBUTION OF THE MORAINES. 



The district east of this morainic belt in northeastern Indiana was discussed in some detail 

 in Monograph XLI, and only a few general observations seem necessary here. The MissLssmawa 

 morainic system and the Salamonie, Wabash, and Fort Wayne moraines come into Indiana 

 from northwestern Ohio separated by intervals of 10 to 15 miles and follow nearly parallel north- 

 westward courses to the main axis of the Maumee- Wabash basin. Beyond this axis they turn 

 northeastward and then parallelism is less marked. The outer two moraines are somewhat dis- 

 tinct from each other and from the great morainic system outside as far north as Columbia City, 

 beyond which they coalesce and bank up against the inner face or slope of the great morainic 

 system. The inner two lie closer together in this northern district than in the district south of 

 the axis but remain distinct from each other and from the moraine outside throughout their 

 course in northeastern Indiana. St. Joseph River (of the Maumee) flows between them. In 

 southeastern Michigan all these moraines merge with the great interlobate belt that follows the 

 "thumb" of Michigan and separates the Huron-Erie from the Saginaw lobe. 



MISSISSINAWA MORAINIC SYSTEM. 



The Mississinawa morainic system has a general width of 5 or 6 miles and is in places separa- 

 ble into two or more moraines, between which are narrow stretches of till plain. It has a swell 

 and sag topography with few sharp knolls and few basins where not combined with the greater 

 morainic system. Its relief above the outer border plain ranges from 20 to 75 feet and its 

 front is rather steep. Its drift is largely a clayey till and carries much fewer bowlders than 

 does the large morainic system with which it becomes blended at the north. This morainic 

 system correlates somewhat closely with the Kalamazoo morainic system of the Saginaw and 

 Lake Michigan lobes. Its outer border is followed by Mississinawa River, from the Ohio-Indiana 

 State line northwestward nearly to the Wabash, and it is because of its close association with this 

 stream that it has received the name Mississinawa. The bordering plains on either side of the 

 system are of stiff clayey till and then surface is nearly free from knolls or noteworthy features. 



SALAMONIE MORAINE. 



The Salamonie moraine has scarcely half the average breadth of the Mississinawa system 

 and in its northern part is in places only 1 or 2 miles broad. At several places along its course 

 it bears groups of conspicuous gravelly knolls, some of which are 60 to 80 feet high. Its greater 

 part, however, presents a subdued swell and sag topography, the swells being only 15 to 20 

 feet above the sags. North of Wabash River, in southern Whitley County, it is reduced to a low, 

 rather smooth ridge differing but little in topography from the border plain but having a larger 

 number of surface bowlders. The moraine is followed on its outer border throughout much of 

 its course from the Ohio line to Wabash River by Salamonie River, from which it takes its name. 

 There is no continuous gravel plain along the border of the moraine, but the amount of gravel 

 and sand is greater than it is along the Mississinawa system. 



WABASH MORAINE. 



The Wabash moraine is similar to the Mississinawa system in topography and governs 

 the course of Wabash River from near the Ohio line northwestward to where the river turns 

 westward down the axis of the Maumee- Wabash basin. Its breadth is but 2 to 4 miles. It 

 has an abrupt outer-border relief of 20 to 50 feet along much of its course from the State line 

 to the axis of the basin, but from the axis northward its relief is less conspicuous and seldom 

 exceeds 20 feet. This moraine not only controls part of the course of the Wabash, as indicated 

 above, but in its northern extension partly controls Aboit River, Cedar Creek, and Pigeon 

 River. Each stream in turn follows it for some distance; Pigeon River turns westward to 

 pass through the great morainic system; Cedar Creek turns eastward through the Wabash 



