764 GLACIAL FORMATIONS OF ERIE AND OHIO BASINS. 



there being a belt of dunes at about its level. From Vermilion River to 

 Cleveland the main shore is a remarkably distinct and nearl}^ continuous 

 ridge of sandy gravel which in a few places becomes drifted into dunes. 

 It crosses Black River about 4 miles north of Elyria and leads tlu-ough the 

 villages of Avon and North Dover, as indicated in the map prepared by 

 A. A. Wright for the Geology of Oliio.^ It leads into Cleveland from the 

 west along or near Detroit street, and after crossing the Cuyahoga River lies 

 near Euclid avenue to the east edge of the oitj. From the point where it 

 enters the city eastward nearly to the Cu3^ahoga, there is a bank 10 to 15 

 feet in height cut in the till which is capped by small deposits of gravel; 

 but from near the river eastward it is built on the sand and gravel delta of 

 the Cuyahoga and presents a smooth ridge, standing slightly above the 

 plain south of it and 5 to 10 feet or more above the plain on the north. 



There is in Cleveland a higher and weaker beach known as the Wood- 

 laud avenue beach, which stands about 20 feet above the main beach. Its 

 altitude, as determined b}" Upham,- is 116 to 1"20 feet above Lake Erie or 

 about 690 feet above tide, while the main beach is 95 to 100 feet above the 

 lake or about 670 feet above tide. The upper one consists usually of a 

 well-defined gravelly ridge, 3 to 8 feet in height and 50 to 75 yards in width, 

 but in places is sandy and forms a broad swell, 100 to 200 yards in width. 

 This upper shore seems to have about the altitude of the Arkona beach, 

 while the lower apparently corresponds to the Forest beach. It is probably 

 the Forest beach that Wright mapped as the "North Ridge," from the 

 Vermilion River eastward to Cleveland, while the Arkona has not been 

 mapped in that region. 



The portion of the shore from Cleveland eastward to the Cattaraugus 

 Valley in western New York has received only incidental notice, but the 

 beaches are known to be well defined tlu'oughout the entire interval of more 

 than 150 miles and to stand only 2 to 4 miles back from Lake Erie. They 

 are more sand)" than the Belmore beach and dunes are very common. 

 Usually there is a single strong ridge, which is known as the "north ridge," 

 the Belmore ridge being called the "south ridge." But at many points two, 

 and in places, tlii-ee, ridges are found whose leA'els differ but a few feet. 

 The main ridge is commonly the lowest in the series, and stands 65 or 70 



^Geology of Ohio, VoL II, 1874, p. 58. 



■' Bull. Geol. Soc. America, Vol. VII, 1896, p. 343. 



