LATER MORAINES OF LAKE MICHIGAN, SAGINAW, AND HURON-ERIE LOBES. 



235 



The Gladwin moraine has sufficient till along its entire course to render it profitable for 

 agriculture, but in the gaps in northeastern Gladwin and southeastern Ogemaw counties and 

 at Au Sable River in northwestern Iosco County its soil is relatively inferior, much of it being 

 a light sand. There is also a sandy tract all along the outer border of this moraine from Au 

 Sable River to the Chippewa, very little of which has been brought under cultivation. 



Bowlders and cobblestones are conspicuous on the surface and in the upper part of the 

 drift on the outer face of the main morainic system from the Au Sable Valley to within a few 

 miles of the Grand River outlet but are relatively inconspicuous in southeastern Montcalm 

 and northeastern Ionia counties. On the inner slope bowlders are common. 



On the Gladwin moraine bowlders are conspicuous in parts of Ogemaw and Iosco counties, 

 but as a rule they are not much more numerous than on the bordering plain and are less abundant 

 than on the West Branch morainic system. 



As the principal settlements are along the inner or eastern face of the large morainic belt 

 in Ogemaw and Claire counties, and as no extensive settlements have been made in Roscommon 

 and Gladwin counties, information is rather fragmentary concerning the deeper parts of the 

 drift. In the interlobate spur in Alcona County the wells are shallow, but some deep ones on 

 its south border at Killmaster show that the thickness of the drift is great. Deep wells at 

 Mount Pleasant, Gladwin, Alma, St. Louis, and Ithaca, along or near the line of the small 

 moraine east of the main system, also show a great thickness of drift in this low-lying district. 

 There is no reason for suspecting the rock surface to have a greater altitude beneath the main 

 morainic system than in this district, and it is probable that the higher ridges bear as much as 

 700 feet of drift. The following table sets forth the altitude of the bedrock, so far as known, 

 along the inner edge of the morainic system : 



Altitude of bedrock surface along and east of the West Branch morainic system. 



Altitude 

 of well 

 mouth. 



Thick- 

 ness of 

 drift. 



Altitude 

 of bed- 

 rock. 



Rose City, heading mill 



West Branch, livery: 



Edwards Lake, sec. 28, T. 21 N., R. 1 E. 

 Chapman Lake, sec. 32, T. 21 N., R. 1 E 



Gladwin -waterworks 



Estey, sec. 25, T. 17 N., R. 2 E 



Clare, coal boring 



Five Lakes, sec. 16, T. 17 N., R. 4 W . . . 



Mount Pleasant, bromine well 



St. Louis, Harrington "well 



St. Louis, Andrews well 



Alma Sanitarium 



Ithaca 



Ashley 



Ashley, 1 mile north of 



Well is 241 feet. 



Bits of coal near bottom. Rock doubtful. 



Well is 23S feet. 



Well is 403 feet. 



Well is 465 feet. 



Well is 300 feet. 



Stops in quicksand. 



No rock struck. 



Well is 1,585 feet. 



Well is 600 feet. 



Rock may have been struck (shale). 



Well is 2,863 feet. 



Well is 613 feet. 



Well is 275 feet. 



No rock struck. 



The well sections given below are among the deepest obtainable. They are taken in order 

 from northeast to southwest, beginning in northeastern Ogemaw County. 



Isaac Lupton's well, 1^ miles north of Lupton, at an altitude about 1,050 feet, is 125 feet 

 in depth and penetrated only 16 feet of till, the remainder of the section being sand. 



In and around Rose City, which stands at the eastern base of the large moraine, many 

 strong flowing wells appear to obtain water from gravel beds interbedded with till at different 

 horizons. 1 



At Campbells Corners, at an altitude of about 1,080 feet, a well made by James Campbell 

 penetrated 10 feet of till and 120 feet of sand to its bottom. 



At West Branch wells sunk by C. J. Blakeley and C. J. Phelps to depths of 185 and 152 feet, 

 respectively, penetrated a large amount of till and near the bottom entered sand containing 

 bits of coal. The water flows with a strong head and frequently brings up coal. It is doubtful, 

 however, if the bottom of the drift was reached. 



Water-Supply Paper V. S. Geol. Survey No. 183, 1907, p. 291. 



