LATER MOBAINES OF LAKE MICHIGAN", SAGINAW, AND HUKON-EEIE LOBES. 229' 



HARRISON-LAKE CITY RIDGED BELT. 



The most conspicuous chain of ridges in the district is one that leaves the West Branch 

 morainic system of the Saginaw lobe immediately east of Harrison and runs northwestward 

 through central Missaukee County to the correlative moraine of the Lake Michigan lobe in 

 Wexford County. It is a narrow but sharply ridged belt with an average width of scarcely 2 

 miles and relief of 75 to 150 feet. Its highest part is directly north of Cadillac, where it rises 

 slightly above the 1,500-foot contour. In Wexford County much of it rises above the 1,400-foot 

 contour, but in' Missaukee County it exceeds 1,400 feet only in the northwest part. From 

 Lake City southeastward only a small part of the crest reaches 1,300 feet, much of it being 

 about 1,200 feet. Narrow gaps 1 to 2 miles wide, in which no traces of the moraines can be 

 seen, are utilized by drainage, one, near the corner of Roscommon, Missaukee, and Clare coun- 

 ties, by Muskegon River, and two, in Missaukee County, by small tributaries of the Muskegon. 

 The ridged belt is thickly set with basins 10 to 50 feet deep and with knolls of corresponding 

 height, so that its surface is about as irregular as that of the interlobate moraine elsewhere. 

 The drift is gravelly and bowlders are not conspicuous. The soil is so much lighter than that 

 of bordering till plains that scarcely any of the ridge has been converted into farm land; how- 

 ever, it once carried a heavy growth of white and Norway pine and hemlock and is well adapted 

 for reforestation. 



In Clare County the ridged belt is bordered on each side by sandy plains which once bore 

 Norway pine. In southeastern Missaukee County it is bordered by till plains with rich soil. 

 In northwestern Missaukee County it is largely bordered by sandy plains, though on the north 

 slope, in the western tier of townships of the county, it shows some rather clayey till. In Wex- 

 ford County it is generally bordered by sandy plains. 



Flowing wells are obtained in a gap hi the ridged belt at Dolph, in eastern Missaukee County, 

 at depths of 35 to 40 feet. They are reported to pass through "blue clay and putty sand" 

 and to obtain water in sand. Shallow flowing wells 25 to 40 feet deep are also obtained in 

 southern Missaukee County on the till plain west of the ridged belt, there being several in the 

 vicinity of McBain. 



The outwash from this ridged belt (see PI. VII) was southward to the vicinity of Clam 

 River and Clam Lake across the plain lying west of Cadillac. Similar southward outwash to 

 Clam River led across a pitted plain west of Lake City. A short distance east of Lake City a 

 narrow line of glacial drainage passed southeastward to Clam River, and a few miles farther 

 east another somewhat broader line led southward to the same stream. The Clare County 

 portion discharged directly into the Muskegon Valley. The entire outwash both in the out- 

 wash aprons and the narrow lines of glacial drainage is a very sandy gravel. 



HOUGHTON LAKE CHAIN OF RIDGES. 



A weaker and more fragmentary chain of ridges than the Harrison-Lake City belt runs 

 about parallel with it across southwestern Roscommon and northeastern Missaukee counties. 

 It does not make complete connection at the southeast end with the West Branch morainic sys- 

 tem of the Saginaw lobe though the southeast end of one of its ridges south of Houghton Lake 

 comes within 3 miles of a projection or spur of the latter system. The ridge south of Houghton 

 Lake has a relief of 60 to 100 feet above the lake and is one-half to 1^ miles wide. It becomes 

 weak west of the lake and is entirely wanting for about 5 miles west of Muskegon River. It is then 

 about as prominent for 5 or 6 mdes as on the south side of the lake, beyond which to a strong 

 moraine on the south bluff of Manistee River it is represented only by scattered knolls. This 

 chain of ridges and knolls is largely of gravelly drift, clayey till being noted only near the 

 western end of the ridge south of Houghton Lake. Bowlders occur in moderate number, but 

 are generally inconspicuous. The greater part of the ridge may not make valuable farm land, 

 but it bears some good farms southwest of Houghton Lake The plains immediately bordering 

 this chain of ridges are sandy except in the vicinity of the west end of Houghton Lake, where 

 there is some clayey till. Much of the bordering district is marshy. 



