232 Ohio State Academy of Science 



Black Soil. 



As we pass from the new to the old ridges, we notice a dif- 

 ference in the quantity of leaf mould that has accumulated. 

 Ridges 8 and 7 have no covering of black soil. Ridge 6 has a 

 little in places. On Ridge 5 it is about an inch deep, on Ridge 4, 

 two inches, and on Ridges 3, 2, and 1, two to four inches or more. 

 On Ridge 1 it is quite uneven, due, no doubt, to this ridge being 

 so much exposed to the wind. The roots of many of its cedar 

 stumps are well covered with sand. 



Heights of valleys and of Aqueous Deposits in Ridges. 



Soon after I began studying the ridges I noticed in going 

 from the bay toward the lake a progression in the height of the 

 valleys between them. In periods of high water the valley 

 between ridges 1 and 2 could be traversed for quite a distance 

 with a row boat and in very high water such as that of 1858 with 

 larger boats. At such times it connected with the bay at its 

 northwest end. This has been open once at least in the last 25 

 years. In October, 1904, it was opened by the dredge which 

 made the lagoon in this valley and cutting through Ridge 2 made 

 a lagoon between Ridges 2 and 3. Here also was water though 

 not quite so deep as in the first valley. Between Ridges 3 and 4, 

 and between 4 and 5, grow the swamp rose, cornel, and blue- 

 joint grass showing that the soil is damp. Until 1904 I had 

 never seen water standing in these valleys. All through the 

 nineties the lake was too low but in 1904 a little water was visible 

 at the surface between Ridges 3 and 5 beyond the northwest end 

 of Ridge 4 and extending quite a distance. Between Ridge 5 

 and the lake the valleys are so high above water level that the 

 sand is too dry for most plants and the scanty vegetation reminds 

 one of the barren zone of the bar. 



When I found that the ridges had been built up successively 

 by the lake and that considerable time had elapsed between the 

 formation of the earlier and later ones, it seemed likely that each 

 valley might be higher than its predecessors because the' lake 

 itself had become higher than when the earlier valleys were 

 formed. This hypothesis was strengthened when it was found 

 that the valley behind Ridge 6, which was formed by the very 

 high water that prevailed for some years prior to 1863, was 

 higher than the valley behind Ridge 7, which was formed about 

 1878, and this higher than the valley behind Ridge 8, which was 

 formed at a time of relativel}^ low water. 



Having noticed a progression in the heights of the valleys, 

 it seemed possible that the aqueous deposits in the ridges them- 



