196 Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis 
THE BOEUF TERRACE 
Westward from Oetters (a station on the Chicago, Rock 
Island and Pacific Railroad east of Labadie, Franklin County, 
Missouri) a much eroded terrace, 35 feet or more above the 
Cuivre Terrace, occurs with considerable regularity. The terrace 
is much more dissected than is the Cuivre Terrace. A section 
of this higher terrace may be observed along a road cut on 
Missouri Highway 94 in the vicinity of Big Berger Creek, in 
Boeuf township, Franklin County, Missouri, as well as in several 
other creek valleys in Boeuf township and elsewhere (Fig. 12). 
The name Boeuf Terrace is tentatively assigned to this ter- 
race displayed along the Missouri River above the Cuivre Ter- 
race and particularly in Boeuf township. 
The terrace is composed of a loess-like silt and does not 
show conspicuous stratification in any of the cuts thus far ob- 
served. It contains rather numerous erratics which occur in 
the midst of apparently unstratified silt. Several cobbles of un- 
doubted northern origin were found on the surface of the ter- 
race at Big Berger Creek. A rounded boulder of light pink 
granite, more than 18 inches in one dimension, may be seen in 
the unstratified silt at Oetters (Fig. 13), Several other such 
erratics have been found on the south side of the Missouri be- 
tween Oetters and Hermann. 'Thus far no erratics have been 
discovered on the north side of the Missouri River, although the 
terrace is well developed there. : 
It may be desirable to interpolate here a brief explanation 
to account for the presence of erratics. Ice-rafting seems the 
most plausible explanation. A study of maps showing various 
ice fronts makes it evident that the Nebraskan, Kansan, and 
Wisconsin ice sheets all crossed the course of the Missouri above 
Hermann, and also that the Kansan ice sheet stood essentially 
parallel to the Missouri River not more than a few miles to the 
north of it in this vicinity (Fig. 14). If the terrace had been 
formed in Wisconsin time, all previous terraces would probably 
have been covered. Moreover, the dissection of the Boeuf Ter- 
