216 PLEISTOCENE OF INDIANA AND MICHIGAN. 



In Allegan County the range is from about 700 feet up to 900 feet. In southwestern Kent 

 County Dias Hill, standing at the point where the moraines of the Saginaw and Lake Michigan 

 lobes come together, reaches an altitude of 1,032 feet and towers more than 100 feet above 

 the neighboring moraine. 



Along the outer border the altitude is generally much greater than on the inner border. 

 The difference, however, is slight in the vicinity of the Illinois and Indiana line, where the altitude 

 of the outer border is scarcely 700 feet. The altitude on this border reaches about 800 feet in the 

 vicinity of Laporte, and is maintained eastward to St. Joseph County, Ind. It appears probable, 

 however, that the portion from Laporte eastward (see p. 184) embraces an outwash apron of the 

 Kalamazoo system, for lines of glacial drainage heading in the Valparaiso system are only 775 

 to 780 feet at their heads. The altitude is below 800 feet in the vicinity of the St. Joseph Valley, 

 but is slightly above 800 in the interval between St. Joseph and Paw Paw rivers. It drops to 750 

 feet or less at Paw Paw River and remains below 800 feet from there to Kalamazoo River along 

 the border of the Kendall moraine. Between the Kendall moraine and the main moraine to the 

 west, however, an outwash apron stands at an altitude of about 800 feet. From the Kalamazoo 

 Valley northward the outer border is generally slightly above 800 feet. 



The relief on the outer border is thus comparatively slight, being in few places more than 

 50 to 75 feet and in some places altogether lacking, the moraine scarcely rising to the level of 

 the outwash apron. The relief on the inner border, however, is everywhere conspicuous, rang- 

 ing from about 100 to 200 feet or more. 



CHARACTER. 



The morainic system presents great variations in topography, some portions being of a sub- 

 dued swell and sag type with differences of only 10 to 30 feet between the swells and sags, and 

 other portions being characterized by very sharp knobs among which are deep basins occupied 

 by small lakes. The smoothest portion is found in the vicinity of the Illinois-Indiana line. 



As already indicated, three ridges, closely associated and yet having distinct crests, form the 

 morainic system in the vicinity of the Illinois-Indiana line. The northernmost is sufficiently 

 prominent to constitute the divide between the Lake Michigan and the Kankakee River drainage, 

 and yet on the whole is less conspicuous than the middle ridge; the southernmost is the least 

 conspicuous of the three. The interruptions in the middle ridge are very slight, but those in the 

 southern ridge are wide. The only conspicuous lake is Cedar Lake, which is situated about 6 

 miles southwest of Crown Point, at the head of a valley which leads southward into the Kankakee 

 Marsh. It has an area of 1.17 square miles but is only 18 feet deep. 1 



To the east, in Porter and Laporte counties, Ind. , the knolls are sharper and the moraine has 

 great prominence on its inner border, rising in places 150 feet in less than 2 miles. Small lakes 

 are numerous among the morainic knolls and in basins on the gravel plain just outside. From 

 the Indiana-Michigan line northward the contours are commonly sharp, the knolls ranging 

 from 15 to 60 and even to 80 feet in height. Several elevated tracts a few square miles in 

 area rise above the general level of neighboring portions of the moraine; notable are those in 

 Bainbridge Township, Berrien County; in central Lawrence, southern Arlington, and northern 

 Blooniingdale townships, Van Buren County; in northwestern Trowbridge and northern 

 Cheshire townships, Allegan County; and in a tract north of Allegan. Most of these have abrupt 

 borders on two or more sides and a relief of 60 to 100 feet. The tract north of Allegan has an 

 abrupt descent both on the north and the east, and that in Cheshire Township has the same 

 on the north and the west. The tract in Arlington Township, with armlike projections into 

 Hartford Township, has an abrupt border on all sides with a relief of 50 feet or more. The 

 tract in Bainbridge Township has an abrupt border on the north and west and on portions of 

 the east and south. Aside from the greater altitude, these tracts differ but httle from the 



1 Determined by the members of the zoological department of the State University of Indiana. 



