INTERGLACIAL GORGES 77 



comparatively late interglacial interval, and that some of these 

 higher gorges represent still earher intervals, thus still further in- 

 creasing the complexity of the glacial record. 



LITERATURE 



The interpretation of these gorges which we have presented is 

 not, in all respects, new. A brief summary of the literature per- 

 taining to Six Mile Creek and its gorges will indicate the status of 

 the problem previous to the recent investigations. 



Probably the first mention of the drift-filled gorges was made 

 by Simonds in 1877,^ who says: "The valley of Six Mile Creek 

 furnishes some special examples of the drift phenomena. In several 

 places its old channel has been completely choked up with masses 

 of morainic debris, about which the present stream has been obliged 

 to cut its way through deep canyons." This reference is interesting, 

 though it contains nothing bearing directly on the problem in hand. 



In the Physical Geography . of New York State (New York : 

 Macmillan Co.), published in 1902, Tarr, under the heading 

 " Interglacial (?) Gorges" (pp. 178-79), calls attention to "numer- 

 ous gorges which are broader than the postglacial valleys and par- 

 tially obscured by glacial till, showing that they were formed either 

 during preglacial or interglacial times," and mentions Six Mile 

 Creek as an especially good example. The problem which has ever 

 since been recurring, and, in fact, still calls for discussion, is there 

 clearly stated: "Were the gorges [of central and western New 

 York] due to the interglacial conditions or to an uplift in preglacial 

 times?" 



In a paper on "Hanging Valleys in the Finger Lake Region of 

 Central New York"^ Tarr discusses the Six Mile Creek gorges at 

 some length. He points out the fact that practically all the valleys 

 tributary to the Finger Lakes possess gorges "which antedate the 

 last advance of the ice" and that in the case of Six Mile Creek 



the stream alternately enters the buried gorge, forming broad amphitheaters, 

 and where it for a short time leaves the earlier gorge, crosses spurs of rock in 



^American Naturalist, XI (1877), 49-51. 

 ^American Geologist, XXXIII (May, 1904), 271-91. 



