280 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



The opinion is expressed by Orton, in the Ohio reports, that this lowland is 

 filled with alluvium, and Wright's reports contain the same opinion, though 

 the latter makes mention of till in this district. The numerous exposures, 

 some sections of which are given below, will make it evident that the drift 

 here is glacial rather than alluvial. 



This lowland tract carries a few undulating surface swells 10 to 15 

 feet and occasionallj^ 20 feet in height, whose forms could scarcely be 

 produced by erosion. A good illustration may be seen in the southwestern 

 part of Madisonville, on the west side of Columbia avenue, the residence 

 of E. S. Emerson being built upon a swell that stands nearly 15 feet above 

 the bordering tracts. A cistern at Emerson's shows the swell to 4)6 com- 

 posed of till. This lowland tract is drained by a small stream (Dutch 

 Creek) leading eastward into the Little Miami River, and a score or more 

 of exposures along the banks show ordinary till. Beds of silt are associated 

 with the till, but as often as otherwise they underlie it, except in the case 

 of the surface silt, which forms here, as on the uplands, a continuous 

 capping for the till. 



In a ditch on the east side of the electric railway, between the Zoologi- 

 cal Gardens and St. Bernard, and near the south border of this lowland 

 tract, is an exposure with a silt deposit 3 to 4 feet, beneath which is fine 

 sand, somewhat contorted and wavy, thickness 3 to 4 feet; then follows a 

 yellow till, very stony, about 20 feet in thickness, beneath which is a pebbly 

 laminated clay of deep-blue color, in which the bedding has contorted or 

 disturbed lines. This blue stratum is exposed to a depth of 25 or 30 feet. 



On Rose avenue, in St. Bernard, a few rods east of the canal, the 

 following beds are exposed : 



Section on Rose avenue^ St. Bernard. 



Feet. 



1. Clayey sand - 4-5 



2. Pebbly clay of yellow color, doubtfully classed as till 3-4 



3. Pebbly clay of dark-brown color : 1-2J 



4. Fine calcareous clay loam, nearly free from pebbles, porous at top, and of sufficient coarse- 



ness in places to be called a sand, but grading below into a compact laminated clay, color 

 varying from yellow to blue, but mainly blue near base 7-8 



5. Ordinary yellow till 3-4 



6. Ordinary blue till, exposed 2-3 



In the vicinity of Bond Hill there are sand deposits which extend east 

 nearly one-half mile from Mill Creek Valley, and lie north of the lowland 

 tract under consideration. The}^ reach a height of 45 to 50 feet above the 



