THE PREGLACIAL DRAINAGE OF OHIO. 47 



Any one walking as I have walked, from Wooster by Hayes- 

 . ville and Mansfield to Bellville; and then crossing the profile 

 from Ashland to Loudonville: will see this fact demonstrated 

 to convicition. 



In the first tramp (Wooster to Belleville) you cross all the 

 streams that drain the eastern face of the plateau; and the eleva- 

 tions, as determined by barometer, may be instructive. Wooster 

 University stands 522 feet above Lake Erie. Killbuck Valley 

 332, Jefferson, on rock summitt of plateau, 600, the flood plain 

 of Muddy Fork 432, and the divide between this and the 

 Jerome Fork 650, while its flood plain is 450. Hayesville, 

 on the summit of the divide between the Jerome and the Black 

 Forks, 700, and the flood plain of the Black Fork at Mifflin is 

 500, the depot at Mansfield 581, and the plateau south of the city 

 is 800, and above Bellville 900. In the cross section from Ash- 

 land to Loudonville the divide between the Jerome and the Black 

 Forks, independent of glacial deposits, is almost a level plane, 

 with only a gradual descent of rock strata of about 50 feet. 



The valleys in which the streams run average about three- 

 fourths of a mile, and the rock floor averages about 150 feet be- 

 low the present bed of the streams, while the rivulets and* creeks 

 that form the streams, start from the rock with the dip of the 

 rock, and only mar the strike of the strata by erosion as they 

 proceed. 



The above presents a picture of the extreme eastern face 

 of the plateau, showing the uniformity of elevations between 

 streams, and the gentle dip of the plateau to the north and east, 

 as well as the depth to> which it was eroded by pre-glacial streams. 

 Prof. Newberry further says: "A current from the south swept 

 the eastern shore of our ancient Atlantis that floated the trunks 

 of tree-ferns and branches of lepidodendron to Sandusky." This 

 current gave the initial direction to a pre-glacial stream that, 

 in after time, carried the waters not only of the Waverly but of 

 the virgin coal hills as well, to the great channel through the 

 bed of Lake Erie. 



The crescent of the highest hills spoken of, that bound the 

 elevations, and head the present streams, presents one horn 

 resting on Medina county, the other on Knox, while the center 



