136 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



one well to be 945 feet and by another 960 feet above tide — i. e., 70 feet and 

 55 feet, respectively, below the bottom of the lowest well in the Franklin 

 oxbow. Still farther northwest, on French Creek, at Cochranton, Buchanan, 

 and Meadville, there are wells showing excavation to even greater depths; 

 the first two not reaching the bottom at 915 and 800 feet above tide, respec- 

 tively, and the last finding rock at 605 feet above tide. The depth of 

 drift at this last point is reported to be 475 feet, and the rock bottom is 

 only 32 feet above Lake Erie. The low altitude at Meadville seems to 

 be confined to a narrow trench, for within short distances either side the 

 rock floor is 100 to 200 feet higher. The conditions here are somewhat 

 problematical, as in the north end of the old Upper Allegheny. 



The evidence seems very strong that the oxbow at Franklin, the old 

 channel northeast of Utica, and the oxbow north of Utica are remnants of 

 the floor of the same old meandering stream leading northwestward. The 

 fact that the rock floor in the oxbow north of Utica is 70 feet below the 

 deepest determination of the old channel where it left the present Allegheny 

 renders it highly improbable, if not impossible, that it was formed by a 

 stream discharging toward the Allegheny. It is even lower than the present 

 rock bottom of the Allegheny, notwithstanding all the erosion the latter is 

 believed to have suffered since the deposition of the early glacial gravels. 

 It is highly probable, therefore, that we have in these abandoned valleys a 

 continuation of the old Middle Allegheny. An inspection of the general 

 configuration of the old channel, as shown in fig. 6, will add to the force of 

 these considerations. 



An objection to the northwestward outlet may perhaps seem to be 

 presented by deposits of gravel which occur along the Allegheny Valley 

 between the mouth of French Creek and the mouth of the Clarion. In 

 several places, notably at the bends of the river at Brandon, at a point 2 

 miles below Brandon, at Kennerdell, at Black's (Winter Hill station), and 

 at Emlenton, there are deposits on the face of the gorge extending from 

 near the river's edge up to heights of 200 to 300 feet or more above the 

 stream. The occurrence of this gravel at low levels can not be accounted 

 for by creeping or landslides, since in some places, notably at Kennerdell 

 and 2 miles below Brandon, the gravels show clearly by their situation and 

 bedding that they have not been disturbed since the stream deposited them. 

 We are not, however, reduced to the one interpretation that the valley had 



