176 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



tributary, Little Darby Creek, also heads in the elevated western rim of the 

 Scioto Basin. Deer Creek heads in the western rim of the Scioto Basin 

 and drains a narrow strip on the southwest border of the Darby Creek 

 drainage basin, entering the Scioto about midway between Circleville and 

 Chillicothe. Paint Creek with its several forks drains the southwestern part 

 of the Scioto Basin and enters the Scioto at Chillicothe. As shown on Pis. 

 II and XIII, the courses of several of its forks are governed largely by 

 moraines. 



The Scioto receives no eastern tributaries of importance above the 

 mouth of the Olentangy River. The northeastern part of the Scioto Basin 

 is drained by three south-flowing streams — Olentangy River, Alum Creek 

 and Walnut Creek— each of which has a drainage basin but 5 to 10 miles 

 in width. With the exception of the headwater portion of Walnut Creek, 

 which is kept in a southward course by a moraine, these streams show little 

 regard for morainic ridges. Their courses are in the direction of the most 

 rapid slope of the basin. The Olentangy River, as above noted, enters the 

 Scioto at Columbus, Alum Creek enters Walnut Creek a short distance south 

 of Columbus, and the united stream enters the Scioto near Lockbourne, a 

 few miles farther south. Just before entering the Scioto it is joined by 

 Little Walnut Creek, a stream which rises near the Licking reservoir and, 

 as above noted, follows nearly the line of the old westward outlet of the 

 Muskingum down to the Scioto. 



The portion of the Scioto drainage basin just described lies within the 

 limits of the Scioto glacial lobe, which occupied the region as late as the 

 Wisconsin stage of glaciation. The valleys are nearly all postglacial and 

 are shallow and narrow, the depth seldom reaching 50 feet, while the width 

 is commonly less than one-fourth of a mile. In places the valleys extend 

 down through the drift into the rock, notably along the Scioto above 

 Columbus and on the lower course of Alum Creek, but, as a rule, their 

 beds are far above the level of the rock floor. It seems hazardous at 

 present to attempt to restore the old systems of drainage in this northern 

 part of the Scioto drainage area. 



In the area drained by Paint Creek it is possible to trace preglacial 

 valleys for some distance back from the Scioto. The main creek from 

 Bainbridge eastward nearly to Chillicothe occupies a preglacial valley 

 about a mile in width and fully 300 feet in depth. Before joining the Scioto, 



