212 PLEISTOCENE OF INDIANA AND MICHIGAN. 



the edge of the Charlotte morainic system. The border tracts are more undulating and bowldery 

 from about a mile north of Dansville southward than they are farther north. As a rule, this main 

 esker consists of a single string of ridges, but about a mile north of Dansville, where the main 

 ridge curves to the east, describing nearly a half circle, small ridges run across the arc in line 

 with the general course of the esker. Its height is from 15 to 30 feet in the vicinity of Dans- 

 ville. In the plexus of knolls at the southern end of the esker points reach 50 to 75 feet above 

 neighboring swamps. The knolls here contain some till as well as gravel, but the esker seems 

 to be composed entirely of gravel and sand. 



The branch in Wheatfield Township lies in a till plain and is not accompanied by a trough 

 or sag. It is exceptionally regular and smooth and has a height of 15 to 20 feet and rather 

 steep sides. It has no delta at its southeast end, but terminates on the bluff of Deer Creek, 

 one-half mile or more from the main esker. So far as exposed by gravel pits it shows a fine 

 material, some parts being sandy, but most being coarse enough for road ballast. 



The branch along Doan Creek has a few ridges strung along in sees. 19 and 30, Leroy, 

 and sees. 25 and 36, Wheatfield townships, with only short interruptions. Then it is broken 

 by a gap of over 2 miles, though the swampy esker trough persists. Near the center of sec. 

 13, Ingham Township, a ridge sets hi and runs southwestward, with but slight breaks, for about 

 2 miles to the intersection of the main esker. In the last mile it is bulky and irregular, but 

 elsewhere it is a low and narrow ridge and is of typical esker form. The best exposure is in a 

 gravel pit in sec. 36, Wheatfield Township, where a ridge 30 feet high is opened from top to 

 bottom and exposes gravel suitable for road ballast for its entire depth. 



LEROY TOWNSHIP ESKER. 



In Leroy Township, in eastern Ingham County, an esker about 5 miles long lies 2 to 2\ 

 miles east of the east branch of the Dansville esker and trends nearly parallel with it from north- 

 northeast to south-southwest. It heads in the southwest part of sec. 15 and follows a small 

 tributary of Doan Creek through sees. 21, 28, and 33, much of the way in a swampy sag. It 

 has a general height of 12 to 15 feet and the steep slopes characteristic of the normal esker. 

 Its continuation on the till plain in sec. 32, Leroy Township, and the north part of sec. 5, Whiteoak 

 Township, is rather faint, but it reappears in strength in the southwest part of sec. 5 and runs 

 across the corner of sec. 6 into sec. 7 to the border of the main moraine of the Charlotte system. 

 In constitution this esker is more sandy than the Mason and Williamston-Dansville esker systems. 



ESKER SYSTEM OF WESTERN LIVINGSTON AND EASTERN INGHAM COUNTIES. 



An esker system begins in the Cedar River valley in the southwest corner of Conway Town- 

 ship, Livingston County, and runs southward about 3 miles along the valley of the west branch 

 of the Cedar one-fourth to one-half mile east of the Ingham-Livingston count} 7- fine. (See PI. 

 X.) Its trough then bears west of south into the edge of Ingham County, but is devoid of esker 

 ridges for about \\ miles. In sec. 25, Leroy Township, however, ridges set in which are nearly 

 continuous for 3 miles, in sees. 25 and 36, Leroy, and sees. 1 and 11, Whitsoak townships, Ingham 

 County, ending in the middle of the east edge of a large tamarack swamp. The swamp is about 

 7 miles long and three-fourths to 1 mile wide, extending from sec. 26, Leroy Township, south- 

 ward across sec. 26, Whiteoak Township. It extends back into the main moraine of the Char- 

 lotte system a couple of miles, but seems to have no esker ridges in it, the main esker terminating 

 a mile or more north of the moraine. 



A single segment of the esker about 1 5 feet high and nearly one-half mile long lies north of 

 Cedar River in a marshy tract just south of a moraine in sec. 31, Conway Township. A space 

 of nearly a mile separates it from the next segment to the south in sec. 6, Handy Township. 

 From sec. 6 to sec. 19, Handy Township, it is nearly continuous and has a height ranging from 

 5 to 40 feet. It is double for a short distance near the Pere Marquette Railroad and incloses 

 a small basin. It does not follow the sag or esker trough, but lies between the trough and Cedar 

 River on a till jnain that stands about 20 feet above the river. The portion in Ingham County 

 is in places double or even treble, ridges being nearly parallel to one another and separated 



