RIVER TERRACES AND REVERSED DRAINAGE 673 



although one is proceeding toward the mouth of the present 

 stream, and where the greater maturity should be expected. 

 Near the village of Catatonk the valley walls also reach their 

 highest elevation — somewhat over 1,500 feet. North and south 

 from this point the inclosing hills slope gradually away in both 

 directions to an elevation approximating 1,300 feet. That is, 

 the upland elevation opposite North Candor is about 1,360 feet, 

 and opposite the present mouth of the stream, near Owego, the 

 elevation is 1,280 feet ; while between these two points the eleva- 

 tion exceeds 1,520 feet. If the surface contour of the upland 

 represents the old preglacial topography, then the height of 

 land must represent an original divide, over which the present 

 stream is now flowing in a reversed course to the south. 



The slope of the buried rock floor was obtainable only at two 

 points, but shows that between Catatonk village and North Can- 

 dor it is toward the north. The rock bottom, or preglacial 

 floor, of the valley is thus deeply buried, and its grade and 

 development do not necessarily coincide with that developed by 

 the present stream over the surface of the drift filling. 



In studying the probable history of the valley, relative to 

 other adjacent valleys, and their bearing on the physiographic 

 development of the region as a whole, the terraces furnished an 

 additional suggestion as to a change that the drainage may have 

 undergone. Professor W. M. Davis^ has brought out many per- 

 tinent facts as to the origin, pattern, and preservation of river 

 terraces. Many ideas there expressed were applied to the 

 study of the Catatonk River terraces. It has been shown by 

 Davis that the carving of destructional river terraces does not 

 necessarily imply a greater power in a stream during past time 

 and that the present stream is one of diminished volume. On 

 the contrary, he points out that such features may be produced 

 by stream-swinging and the migration of its meanders down 

 stream, now on one side of the valley and now on the other, the 

 volume remaining constant. Each return of the meander at a 

 lower level would mark a terrace plain. A stream, unthwarted 



' Davis, " River Terraces in New England," Btdl. AIus. Comp. ZooL, Vol. 

 XXXVIII (October, 1902). 



