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Cincimnati-Cape Hatteras Axis. 81 
These are lines of maximum elevation and they have had a 
predominant influence in producing the present topography of . 
the province. They coincide with the present mountains and 
in a general way parallel the great structural features of the 
Appalachian valley. 
Transverse Axes of Oscillation —In addition to the predominat- 
ing longitudinal axes a number of interesting transverse axes 
are brought out by the contours representing the deformed Cre- 
taceous peneplain? In the central portion of the map the con- 
tours swell out on either side, giving a broader and more regular 
profile to the elevation than elsewhere. This is suggestive of a 
transverse line of uplift intersecting the longitudinal axes nearly 
at right angles. If this line be prolonged in both directions it is 
found to connect Cincinnati and cape Hatteras, both of which 
have been recognized as occupying regions of recent elevation. 
As early as 1871 Shaler* described a transverse uplift which he 
concluded had produced the great projection of the coast line at 
ape Hatteras; also McGee has shown that this axis has been 
an important factor in determining the form of the coast line 
during the time represented by the deposition of the coastal 
plain sediments. He describes itt as “an axis of interruption 
or change in epeirogenic movement during every geologic period 
since the Cretaceous.” If this line from cape Hatteras to Cin- 
cinnati be continued across the Ohio river its direction will be 
found to coincide with that of the main or northwestward branch 
of the Cincinnati arch which crosses Indiana to Chicago. A1- 
though, with the information at present available, it cannot be 
asserted that motion has taken place along the southeastern por- 
tion of the line except in post-Cretaceous time, still the coinci- 
dence of the two axes suggests the probability that there was 
orogenic movement in the Appalachian region during the uplift 
of the Cincinnati arch in Ohio and Indiana, and, conversely, that 
north of the Ohio river may yet be found traces of post-Paleozoic 
movements corresponding to the later uplifts in the vicinity of 
cape Hatteras. The probability of such contemporaneous move- 
ment is increased by the fact that in the southern portion of the 
province evidence was found by the writers proving that certain 
* (On the Causes which have led to the Production of cape Hatteras, by 
Professor N.'S. Shaler: Proe. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. xiv, pp. 110-121. 
+The Lafayette Formation, by W J McGee: 12th Annual Report (We TSt 
Geological Survey, 1891, p. 403. 
