712 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



nearly 3 miles, the least width being in the city of Fort Wayue, where it 

 passes through the Fort Wayne moraine, and the greatest width, 2 to 5 

 miles, being west of the city. The bluffs range in height from 15 or 20 feet 

 up to about 75 feet, the highest part of the bluffs being near Aboit, at the 

 place where the outlet cuts through the Wabash moraine. The bluffs in 

 Fort Wayne, where the outlet crosses the Fort Wayne moraine, are scarcely 

 50 feet in height. 



The bed of the outlet in Fort Wayne stands about 755 feet above tide 

 or 182 feet above Lake Erie, and the head near New Haven seems to be 

 but a foot or two higher. From Fort Wayne to Lewis's ford, 3 miles east 

 of Huntington, there appears to be a fall of but 11 feet, though the distance 

 is nearly 25 miles. At this ford a ledge of limestone forms a barrier which 

 was influential in causing the low rate of fall. Between this ledge and the 

 junction with the Wabash River there is a fall of 45 feet in the present 

 drainage line, Little River, and the lake outlet probably had nearly that 

 amount of fall, for Little River has done scarcely any cvitting in the bed of 

 the outlet. 



The bluffs of the outlet are abrupt throughout the entire distance from 

 the head to its junction with the Wabash and far down the Wabash Vallev, 

 showing clearly the work of a vigorous stream. Parts of the bed are strewn 

 with bowlders and cobblestones, also indicating an old scourway. The 

 northwest part of the city of Fort Wajaie stands on such. a stony part of the 

 bed. Between Fort Wayne and the ledge at Lewis's ford the bed is occupied 

 by an extensive growth of peaty material, beneath which there is fine sand. 

 This part had apparently been scoured out somewhat below its present level 

 during the most vigorous stage of the excavation and was then filled in as 

 the strength of the flow declined. 



The outlet is also partially filled near its head by a delta of sand formed 

 at the mouth of Sixmile Creek. Dryer estimates the average height of this 

 delta to be about 10 feet above adjacent parts of the lake bottom,^ and 

 considers it the product of a stream that has passed from the St. Marys River 

 Valley northward through the Sixmile Creek channel. This stream is 

 reported to be still operative at exceptionally high stages of water in St. 

 Marys River, though the main current passes around by Fort Wayne to the 

 head of the Maumee River. 



^Sixteenth Ann. Kept. Geol. Survey Indiana, 1888, p. 113. 



