Wisconsm Kettle Moraine. 221 



of the Erie basin. Absolute continuity undoubtedly does not 

 exist. If my views are correct, tins was the great — not exclu- 

 sive — channel of discharge of the glacial floods, at the very time 

 the moraine was being formed, where it could be formed, and, for 

 that reason, the debris was swept away or leveled. In addition to 

 this, the region has been subjected to the vicissitudes of erosion, of 

 a reversal of drainage systems, and of lacustrine and fluviatile accu- 

 mulation. It is to be presumed, therefore, that a portion of the 

 range, where once formed, has been lost, leveled, or buried. Some 

 remnant indications of the range, on the upper slopes, might, 

 however, rationally be presumed to exist. But, awaiting a criti- 

 cal examination of the region, we must confess a want of direct 

 evidence. The belt stretches entirely across Ohio and enters In- 

 diana, but has not been traced farther. 



In the line of indirect testimony, however, some facts may be 

 noticed. Prof. N. H. Winchell describes in the Ohio reports ^ six 

 ridges running parallel to Lake Erie, and Mr. Gr. K. Gilbert has 

 described that portion of these which lie in the more immediate 

 Maumee valley.^ Two of the inner ones are conceded to be lake 

 beaches. The two outer ones are members of the " Kame," or Ket- 

 tle belt, according to Dr. Newberry.^ The one next within, the 

 St. Mary's ridge, Prof. Newberry distinguishes, apparently, with 

 justness, from both the other classes. Mr. Gilbert gives a clear 

 and discriminating description of this, and expresses the convic- 

 tion that it is " the superficial representation of a terminal glacial 

 moraine, that i-ests directly on the rock bed and is covered by a 

 heavy sheet of Erie clay, a subsequent aqueous and iceberg de- 

 posit." "* The views of Professors Newberry and Winchell, while 

 they each differ somewhat, agree with this in the only point essen- 

 tial to the present discussion, viz. : that this ridge represents the mar- 

 gin of the glacier at the time it was formed. This shows the glacier 

 to havebeen a tongue or lobe of ice, differentiated from the sup- 

 posed continental glacier, and having its axis coincident with the 

 Maumee valley, and, withal, capable of forming a morainic ac- 

 cumulation on both sides. The St. Mary's ridge crosses the 



1 See also Pr oc. Am. Assoc. Ad. Sci., 1872. * Geol. Surv. Ohio, Vol. I, pp. 537 et seq. 



3 Geol. Sur. Ohio, Vol. 11, pp. 56 and 57. * Loc. cit. 



